UKi. 


144 

807 


-Fifth  Anni 
First  Graduation 
the  Hebrew  Ur 
College 


Cincinnati,   Oi  i-: 

Twent      Seventh    a:  c    •, 
Nineteen  Hundre 


ISAAC  M.  WISE 

FOUNDER    OF    THE    HEBREW    UNION    COLLEGE 


HEBREW    UNION    COLLEGE 

724    WEST    SIXTH    STREET 
CINCINNATI 


Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary  of 

the  First  Graduation  from 

the  Hebrew  Union 

College 


Cincinnati,  Ohio 

June  Twenty  Seventh  and  Twenty  Eighth 
Nineteen  Hundred  and  Eight 


FOREWORD 

The  Twenty-fifth  Anniversary  of  the  First  Graduation  of 
the  Hebrew  Union  College  was  celebrated  appropriately  on  June 
28th,  1908.  On  the  preceding  day,  June  27th,  the  Graduation 
Kxrrcises  of  the  last  dlass  were  held  and  three  young  rabbis 
v.cre  ordained. 

The  College  opened  on  October  3rd,  1875,  and  the  first 
Graduation  took  plaice  July  14th,  1883.  The  four  young  men  who 
were  ordained  as  rabbis  on  that  memorable  occasion  were  all 
present,  in  good  health,  at  the  Anniversary  celebration  and  ap- 
peared in  the  exeercises.  Besides  the  four  members  of  the  first 
class,  a  large  number  of  the  Alumni  of  the  College  came  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  to  be  present  on  this  historical  occasion. 

The  Alumni  present  were: 

Israel  Aaron Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

David  Alexander Toledo,  Ohio. 

Abraham  Anspacher  Scranton,  Pa. 

Henry  Berkowitz   Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Seymour  G.  Bottigheimer Natchez,  Miss. 

Joel   Blau    Cincinnati,  O. 

Max  C.  Currick Erie,  Pa. 

Hyman  G.  Enelow Louisville,  Ky. 

Henry  Englander Providence,  R.  I. 

Harry  W.  Ettelson Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 

Leo  M.  Franklin Detroit,  Mich. 

G.  George  Fox Chicago,  111. 

E.  Frisch, Pine  Bluff,  Ark. 

Solomon  Foster,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Charles  J.  Freund Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

Moses  J.  Gries Cleveland,  Ohio. 


2107704 


S.  H.  Goldenson Albany,  N.  Y. 

Max  Heller  New  Orleans,  La. 

Pizer  Jacobs   Jacksonville,  Fla. 

Joseph  Jasin,    Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

Sol.  L.  Kory Vicksburg,  Miss. 

Joseph  Krauskopf  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Nathan  Krass  Lafayette,  Ind. 

Israel  Klein Chicago,  111. 

Charles  S.  Levi Peoria,  HI. 

Gustav  Lowenstein  Augusta,  Ga. 

David  Lefkowitz    Dayton,  Ohio. 

Meyer  Lovitch    Paducah,  Ky. 

Martin  A.  Meyer Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

David  Marx    Atlanta,  Ga. 

J.  E.   Marcuson Sandusky,  Ohio. 

Eugene  Mannheimer Des  Moines,  la, 

Max  J.  Merritt Evansville,  Ind. 

Alfred  G.   Moses Mobile,  Ala. 

Jacob  Mielziner   Cincinnati,  O. 

Leo  Mannheimer  Cincinnati,  O. 

Morris  Newfield  Baltimore,  Md. 

Max  Raisin   Meridian,  Miss. 

William  Rosenau  Baltimore,  Md. 

Isaac  L.  Eypins St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Herman  Rosenwasser   Cincinnati,  O. 

Nathan  Stern    Trenton,  N.  J. 

Joseph  Silverman    New  York  City. 

Jacob  D.  Schwarz Pensacola,  Fla. 

Joseph  H.  Stolz Altoona,  Pa. 

George  Solomon   Savannah,  Ga. 

Joseph  Stolz   Chicago,  111. 

Leon  Volmer    Charleston,  W.  Va. 

Louis;  Wolsey   Cleveland,  0. 

Jonah  B.  Wise Portland,  Ore. 

George  Zepin    Chicago,  111. 


COMMENCEMENT  EXERCISES 

HEBREW  UNION  COLLEGE 


CLASS   OF   1908 

JOEL  BLAU,  B.  A.         G.  GEORGE  Fox.  PH.  B. 
HERMAN  ROSENWASSER.  A.  M. 


PLUM    STREET    TEMPLE  (K.  K.  B.  Y.) 

SATURDAY,  JUNE   27,   19O8,   9   A.  M. 


March— S'u  Sheorim  Gounod 

Choir 

Salutatory  Mr.  Bernhard  Bettmann 

PRESIDENT  BOARD  OF  GOVERNORS 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  in  this  very  pla>ce,  still  surrounded 
by  nearly  all  of  those,  whom  he  had  called  to  his  assistance, 
the  man,  whose  gigantic  figure  will  continue  to  grow  as  it 
recedes  into  the  passing  centuries,  gathered  in  supreme  happi- 
ness the  first  rich  fruits  of  his  unselfish  labors.  What  Isaac 
M.  Wise  dreamt  and  realized,  hoped  for  and  accomplished — 
what  tremendous  influence,  not  even  now  generally  understood 
and  sufficiently  appreciated,  he  exerted  upon  the  Jews  and  Juda- 
ism of  his  own  time  and  coming  ages  will  be  told  to  you  today 


and  to-morrow  in  glowing  words  of  eloquence  by  some  of  his 
grateful  pupils,  assembled  with  us  in  honor  of  the  event  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago.  In  peace  beneath  the  sod  sleeps  the 
great  Master,  sleep  nearly  all  of  those,  who  thirty-three  years 
ago  gathered  around  him  whilst  laying  the  corner-stone  of  our 
beloved  institution,  but  the  few  survivors  do  not  stand  here  to- 
day with  bowed  down  heads,  mourning  that  the  flight  of  Time 
admonishes  them,  that  they  too  will  soon  be  called  to  join  the 
silent  majority — no,  with  forms  erect  and  highbeating  hearts, 
full  of  happiness  and  deepfelt  gratitude  we  rejoice  with  you  in 
the  conviction,  that  that  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the  imperish- 
able living  rock  of  Truth — rejoice  in  the  glorious  realization  of 
our  fond  hope,  that  an  enthusiastic,  fervent  Young  American 
Israel  would  rally  around  the  never  again  to  be  furled  standard 
of  a  free  and  enlightened  American  Judaism,  a  faith  built  upon 
the  indestructible  verities  and  appealing  to  the  noblest  feelings 
of  the  human  soul  and  which  enables  the  American  Jew  to 
unite  with  a  deep  reverence  for  the  past  and  warm  affection 
for  the  land  of  his  ancestors  the  most  glowing  patriotism  and 
all  surpassing  supreme  love  for  the  land  and  flag  of  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  As  Joshua  followed  Moses  and  brought  his  un- 
finished work  to  a  glorious  completion,  so  do  we  hope,  that 
under  the  guidance  of  a  wise  and  learned  successor  to  our  never 
to  be  forgotten  leader  the  Hebrew  Union  College  will  develop 
all  possibilities  and  be  forever  a  potent  factor  in  the  Reform 
Judaism  of  the  United  States. 

In  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Governors  I  extend  to  you  all 
hearty  thanks  and  welcome!  Let  us  now  in  joint  supplica- 
tion approach  the  throne  of  Him,  who  through  all  these  and  some 
of  them  dark  and  stormy  years  has  guided  us  with  a  Father's 
Icve  and  mercy! 

Invocation  -  Rabbi  Alfred  G.  Mosea 

Seek  Ye  The  Lord  -       Roberts 

Choir 

10 


Bacalaareate  Oration  Rabbi  William  Rosenan,  D.  D. 

OHEB  SHALOM  CONGREGATION,  BALTIMORE.  Mo. 

THE    RABBI'S    OFFICE 


Text:  "Speak  unto  the  Priests."     (Lev.  21:1.) 

Hallelujah !  Praise  ye  the  Lord !  Sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new 
song!  Proclaim  His  praise  in  the  congregation  of  the  pious! 
(Ps.  149:1.) 

Another  link  has  been  forged  in  the  chain  of  Jewish  tradi- 
tion. We  are  sending  forth  into  the  religious  world  another 
class  trained  to  preach  the  faith  of  our  fathers.  A  company  of 
recruits  is  enlisting  to  fight  the  wars  of  the  Eternal. 

Israel  certainly  stands  in  great  need  of  earnest  teachers 
and  ardent  champions.  On  the  one  hand,  its  sons  and  daughters 
are  far  from  being  thoroughly  conscious  of  their  precious  spirit- 
ual patrimony,  and,  hence,  do  not  as  yet  appreciate  the  dignity 
of  their  divinely  appointed  mission;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  rest  of  the  world  is  still  so  lamentably  ignorant  of  the  Jew's 
and  Judaism's  place  in  the  economy  of  mankind,  that  it  is  often 
guilty  of  giving,  without  compunction,  the  most  unjust  and 
preposterous  presentation  of  the  same. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  an  occasion,  like  the  present  one, 
calls  for  a  detailed  exposition  of  the  duties,  which  these  young 
men  shall  be  called  upon  to  share,  together  with  their  future 
colleagues,  in  the  modern  American  rabbinate.  However  often 
such  exposition  may  have  been  undertaken  on  former  gradua- 
tions, its  repetition  here  and  now  is  not  useless.  The  same 
charge  can  be  profitably  given  to  every  forthgoing  class.  Amid 
the  many  distractions,  for  which  the  complex  rabbinical  life  is 
responsible,  the  specific  duties  of  the  rabbi  may  be  easily  for- 
gotten. 

In  alluding  to  the  duties  of  the  rabbi,  I  have  spoken  of  our 
rabbinate  as  "modern"  and  "American."  I  did  so  not  with  the 
desire  to  draw  epochal  and  geographical  lines,  but,  because  of 

11 


«,  deep-felt  conviction  that  the  rabbinate,  like  the  cause  it  serves, 
is  affected  by  the  spirit  of  our  age  and  the  idealism  of  our 
country.  And  yet,  I  should  not  wish  to  give  the  impression,  that 
the  rabbi  we  require  for  onr  religious  needs  has  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  him,  who  was  distinguished  by  that  title  in  other  days, 
or  with  him  who  ministers  to  the  spritual  wants  of  our  brethren 
in  other  lands.  There  are  well  defined  Jewish  requirements, 
which  are  indispensable  in  the  leaders  in  Israel,  irrespective  of 
the  varying  conditions  of  time  and  place. 

Such  was  most  undoubtedly  the  belief  of  Isaac  M.  Wise, 
the  founder  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College.  He  realized,  if  any- 
one, ever  did,  that  Israel  in  America  needs  a  ministry,  which  is 
both  American  and  Jewish — a  ministry  not  any  the  less  American 
because  Jewish  and  not  any  the  less  Jewish  because  American. 
Encouraged  in  his  efforts  by  the  sainted  Max  Lilienthal,  Louis 
Aufrecht,  Solomon  Eppinger,  Henry  Zirndorf,  Moses  Mielziner 
and  others,  he  happily  saw  his  efforts  crowned  with  success. 
The  memory  of  this  righteous  sage  has  proved  a  blessing.  In 
the  spirit  of  the  great  departed,  his  worthy  successor  in  office 
and  the  members  of  the  present  faculty  are  faithfully  continu- 
ing the  work,  than  which  there  is  none  more  important  or  more 
glorious. 

As  I,  to  whom  the  invitation  has  gone  forth  to  treat  the 
all  absorbing  theme  of  the  hour,  betake  myself  to  the  task  thus 
imposed  upon  me,  carefully  formed  views  with  regard  to  the 
functions  of  our  rabbinate  begin  to  master  me  and  bid  me  give 
them  speech.  It  seems  as  though  I  hear  a  voice  addressing  it- 
self to  me  with  command,  like  unto  that  enjoined  upon  our 
immortal  lawgiver,  when  he  was  told,  "Speak  unto  the  priests" — 
to  the  priests,  who  occupy  the  most  honorable  position  within 
the  gift  of  Israel,  who  guide  and  direct  the  destinies  of  our 
people,  and  who  are  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  most  high 
God. 

However,  because  I  believe  myself  bidden  to  speak  to  the 
priests  I  would  not  have  you  think  that  I  consider  our  modern 

M 


rabbinate  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  priesthood  known  to  our 
early  forefathers.  The  ancient  priesthood,  with  its  impressive 
pomp  and  pageantry,  was  to  a  great  extent  made  necessary 
only  by  the  elaborate  sacrificial  cult  constituting  the  religion 
which  Moses  called  into  life.  With  the  fall  of  common 
sanctuary,  the  destruction  of  altar  and  the  consequent  discon- 
tinuance of  sacrifice,  the  priesthood  in  its  classic  form  too 
ceased  to  exist.  Far  be  it  from  me,  furthermore,  to  ascribe 
unto  the  rabbi  a  special  holiness  of  which  he  becomes  posses- 
sed by  virtue  of  ordination. 

"Position  does  not  shed  glory  upon  him  who  fills  it,  unless 
the  person  himself  honors  the  position"  is  a  good  old  Jewish 
adage.  In  Israel,  whose  social  legislation  was  ever  democratic, 
no  such  distinction  is  countenanced  as  is  drawn  in  other  camps 
between  ministry  and  laity.  If  the  rabbi  deserves  and  claims 
to  be  recognized  <as  the  superior  of  others,  recognition  should  be 
accorded  him  only  on  the  ground  of  his  greater  achievements 
and  higher  ideals.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  rabbinate, 
by  means  of  the  dignity  with  wnich  it  should  seek  to  invest 
itself,  is,  like  the  priesthood  of  old,  only  to  serve  as  a  reminder 
to  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  to  become  "A  kingdom  of  priests 
and  a  holy  nation." 

Granted,  t!hat  the  close  relationship  between  modern  rab- 
binate and  ancient  priesthood,  at  least  in  point  of  purpose,  is 
established,  to  what  extent  and  in  what  manner  is  the  message 
which  Moses  carried  to  Aaron  and  his  sons  applicable  to  the 
occupants  of  the  American  Jewish  pulpit?  In  order  to  answer 
this  question,  let  us  study  the  chapters  in  Leviticus,  which 
have  rescued  that  message  from  oblivion. 

That  which  we  find  justly  accentuated  first  for  the  priest  is 
personal  fitness,  consisting  not  merely  of  physical  soundness 
but  including  also,  by  way  of  symbolic  implication,  spiritual 
perfection.  He  had  to  be  free  of  all  blemishes  and  devoid  of 
all  defilement.  Defects,  shortcomings  and  mistakes,  which 
were  pardoned  in  others,  led  to  exclusion  from  office  in  the  case 

18 


of  the  priest.  In  a  word,  'his  many-sided  holiness  had  to  be  above 
reproach.  Who,  that  contemplates  this  priestly  requirement, 
does  not  feel,  that  the  primary  equipment  of  the  rabbi  is  a 
sound,  strong  'and  sacred  personality?  Unless  he  possesses  such, 
what  positive  moral  influence  can  he  be  expected  to  exert?  When 
the  Psalmist  put  the  query:  "Who  shall  ascend  the  mountain 
of  the  Lord  and  who  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place?"  the  reply 
given  was:  "He  that  is  clean  of  hands  and  pure  of  heart;  he 
that  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  to  falsehood  or  sworn  deceit- 
fully." Such  a  one  alone  can  carry  away  a  blessing  from  the 
Lord  and  favor  from  the  God  of  hig  salvation.  Such  a  one 
a'one  can  make  his  generation  devout  worshipers  of  the  Lord 
in  Jacob. 

Whatever  else  the  rabbi  may  lack,  he  should  not  lack 
character.  His  whole  life  should  be  irreproachable.  It  should 
admit  of  the  most  careful  and  searching  inspection.  It  should 
be  illumined  by  an  idealism,  which  sanctifies  every  motive  and 
hallows  every  undertaking.  He  should  never  be  guilty  of  serv- 
ing because  of  the  glory  which  may  fall  to  his  lot.  He  should 
work  in  his  chosen  vocation  solely  for  the  glorification  of  God 
and  His  holy  name. 

But  personality  with  its  most  eloquent  manifestation  in 
character,  although  essential  in  the  rabbi,  is  in  him,  as  it  was 
in  the  priest  of  yore,  only  one  element  of  his  professional  fit- 
ness. In  the  rabbi,  character  must  be  supplemented  by  specific 
qualifications,  by  means  of  which  he  may  render  Israel  the  best 
possible  service.  What  these  qualifications  are  may  be  gathered 
from  an  examination  of  the  duties  laid  down  for  Aaron  and  his 
house  by  the  lawgiver,  after  the  latter  had  finished  dwelling 
upon  the  need  of  personal  purity. 

The  priest  was  exhorted  "to  cause  the  lamp  to  burn  con- 
tinually" (Lev.  24:1)  within  the  sanctuary.  How  very  force- 
fully this  injunction  must  needs  recall  to  the  rabbi  of  today 
the  lamp,  demanding  his  constant  attention.  I  refer  to  "the  lamp 
of  the  Lord,  the  soul  of  man"  (Prov.  20:27),  which  should  be 

14 


ever  brilliant  with  the  flame  of  religious  enthusiasm.  But  in 
order  to  succeed  in  this  respect  the  rabbi  needs  to  remember 
the  quality  of  the  oil  to  be  used  and  to  study  the  nature  of  the 
lamp  given  into  his  care.  Not  any  kind  of  oil  will  produce  the 
religious  enthusiasm  expressing  itself  in  never-waning  cheer, 
hope  and  trust  in  God.  The  oil  to  be  employed  should  be 
especially  prepared  and  suited  for  spiritual  illumination.  It 
should  consist  of  the  precious  ingredients  obtained  through  the 
preaching  of  our  finiteness,  the  cultivation  of  reverence  and  the 
encouragement  of  worship.  And  what  of  the  lamp's  pecul- 
iarity, with  which  the  rabbi  needs  to  be  conversant !  How  easily 
its  holy  flame  may  be  extinguished!  Amid  the  darkness  of  de- 
spair following  closely  in  many  instances  upon  the  shadows  of 
disappointment,  failure  and  grief,  which  overtake  every  man, 
does  not  the  lamp  frequently  burn  low?  Not  all  people  can 
view  misfortune  with  complacency  and  resignation.  At  such  a 
time  especially  the  rabbi  is  called  upon  to  act.  As  the  priest 
was  commanded  to  set  tflie  lamp  in  the  sanctuary  in  order  "from 
evening  until  morning"  (Lev.  24:3),  so  should  the  rabbi  look  to 
the  lamp  in  his  keeping  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  its  ex- 
tinction during  the  dreary  night  preceeding  the  dawning  of 
the  brighter  day. 

The  priest  of  yore  brought  to  the  sanctuary  also  the  hallowed 
bread,  which,  consisting  of  twelve  cakes,  he  had  to  arrange  "in 
two  rows,  six  to  a  row,  upon  the  pure  table  before  the  Lord." 
(Lev.  24:6).  What  these  cakes  may  be  made  to  symbolize  is 
not  difficult  to  guess.  Are  they  not  indicative  of  the  spirit- 
nourishing  bread  the  rabbi  is  to  supply  in  the  synagog?  That 
bread  too  admits  of  distribution  into  two  equally  important 
distinct  divisions.  The  one  is  the  philosophy  of  life,  the  other  is 
the  presentation  of  Judaism.  The  one  is  to  make  for  the  better 
man,  the  other  for  the  better  Jew. 

' '  The  lips  of  the  priest  are  ever  to  guard  knowledge  and  the 
law  are  the  people  to  seek  from  his  mouth"  (Mai.  2:7).  There 
must  be  in  God's  temple  no  dodging  of  issues,  no  connivance 

15 


of  wrong  doing,  and  no  respecting  of  persons.  Crime  of  every 
description  must  be  unmasked  and  its  real  face  held  up  to 
public  scorn.  By  means  of  the  higher  ethics  the  worshiper  hears 
expounded  in  the  synagog,  the  baseness  of  narrow  selfishness 
should  be  recognized  and  the  nobility  of  a  broader  altruism 
acknowledged;  his  indignation  at  injustice  should  grow  and  his 
love  for  righteousness  increase;  the  grossness  of  his  own  short- 
comings should  be  laid  bare  and  the  beauty  of  divine  holiness 
revealed. 

And  as  the  philosophy  of  life  will  tend  toward  nobler  con- 
duct, so  the  presentation  of  Judaism  will  result  in  deep-seated 
Jewishness — that  Jewishness  which  manifests  itself  in  an  ever- 
wakeful  Jewish  consciousness,  in  a  dignified  Jewish  pride,  in 
a  praiseworthy  Jewish  self  respect,  in  a  profound  Jewish  sympa- 
thy, in  a  keen  interest  in  Jewish  problems,  in  a  lofty  regard  for 
Jewish  tradition,  in  a  staunch  observance  of  holy  days  and  festive 
seasons,  and  in  a  commendable  loyalty  to  the  congregation.  To 
insure  such  result,  the  Judaism  preached  by  the  rabbi  should 
possess  Jewish  individuality.  It  should  not  be  a  de-Judaized  faith, 
a  cold  rationalism,  a  personal  interpretation  of  our  religion,  a  sys- 
tem of  sociology,  an  ethical  culturism  or  a  vague  mysticism.  It 
should  not  be  all  negation  but  be  positive.  Like  the  devotion  in 
the  synagog,  the  preaching  should  create  a  Jewish  atmosphere.  It 
should  bring  out  clearly  our  concepts  with  regard  to  God,  our 
teachings  concerning  man's  place  in  the  universe,  our  doctrine 
relative  to  Israel's  mission  and  our  belief  as  to  humanity's 
destiny.  In  order  to  give  hig  teaching  Jewish  authenticity, 
the  rabbi  should  draw  on  Jewish  history,  Jewish  literature  and 
Jewish  life.  He  needs  to  be  on  his  guard  not  to  allow  other  than 
ethical  and  religious  knowledge  to  be  introduced  into  the  synagog. 
Appropriate  as  it  is  elsewhere,  it  is  out  of  place  in  the  house  of 
God.  The  bread  made  out  of  the  fine  flour  of  Israel's  divine  truth 
alone  should  be  found  on  the  table  of  the  Lord. 

The  priest  was  moreover  told  to  put  "  the  pure  frankin- 
cense" (Lev.  24:7),  upon  the  show  bread  in  order  to  render  it, 


which  would  have  been  otherwise  tasteless,  palatable.    Does  not 
this  practice  suggest  to  the  rabbi  the  need  of  making  his  preach- 
ing inviting  by  the  use  of  the  flavor  of  modernity?     The  expo- 
sition of  life's  philosophy,  and  Judaism's  thought  is  of  no  avail, 
unless  it  is  demonstrated  how  the  one  applies  to  the  every  day 
life  and  how  the  other  is  adapted  to  our  present  environment. 
"Why  has  many  a  person  been  weaned  of  the  synagog?     Is  it 
always  because  the  person  is  religiously  unresponsive?     While 
this  may  explain  the  lack  of  spirituality  in  some  people,  there 
are  those  whose  religious  indifference  is  surely  traceable  to  the 
character  of  the  instruction  furnished  them.     When  the  rabbi 
treats  of  life's  philosophy,  he  should  avoid  the  dry-as-dust  and 
repulsive  abstractions,  despite  the  fact  that  they  testify  to  his 
profundity,  but  deal  with  the  problems  by  which  man  is  beset 
in  the  manifold  relations  of  our  modern  social  life.    Every  man 
wants  to  know  what  practical  message  religion  has  for  him  as 
a  social  being.    He  wishes  to  have  those  duties  presented  which 
lie  nearest  to  him.    He  seeks  help  in  becoming  a  better  member 
of  his  family,  of  the  business  world  and  of  society  at  large.    And 
when  the  rabbi  discusses  Judaism,  let  it  be  a  Judaism  which 
is  not  out  of  touch  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  but  one  which 
reveals  the  saving  genius  of  adjustment  to  the  growing  truth. 
Judaism  has  never  been  an  anachronism.     Its  champions  were 
opposed    to    religious    fixity    in    Israel.      They   heeded    the    old 
counsel,  "Speak  to  the  children  of  Israel  that  they  go  forward." 
They  recognized  Judaism's  necessity  of  being  in  a  state  of  con- 
stant development.    In  fact,  Judaism  is  a  power  today  only  be- 
cause it  has  never  held  that  the  last  word  has  been  spoken  on 
any  question  by  any  one  generation.     And  again,  while  every- 
thing which  in  its  peculiar  expression  appealed  to  the  Jews  of 
previous  centuries  in  European  ghettos  can  not  be  expected  to 
appeal  to  the  Jews  of  our  day  living  in  free  America,  many 
an  institution,  hallowed  by  time,  can  be  preserved  and  can  con- 
tinue to  inspire,  if  the  institution  is  transformed  or  reinforced 
to  suit  modern  religious  needs.     The  rabbi  can  not  afford  to 

17 


omit  the  frankincense  of  modernity  on  the  show-bread  of  his 
presentation. 

The  priest  was  furthermore  cautioned  to  have  the  show-bread 
before  the  Lord  "  on  every  Sabbath."  (Lev.  24:8).  What  else 
can  this  caution  bring  home  to  the  rabbi,  but  the  necessity  of 
the  continuous  and  persistent  emphasis  of  life's  philosophy  and 
Judaism's  thought?  The  message  of  Israel  calls  for  constant 
exposition,  if  its  influence  is  to  make  itself  felt.  The  rabbi  should 
never  lose  sight  of  this  fact.  He  should  realize  that  religion  as 
such  does  not  receive  sufficient  separate  attention  at  the  hands 
of  people  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  and,  that  Judaism  as 
a  distinct  movement  must  hold  its  own  and  forge  ahead  amid 
a  host  of  opposing  non- Jewish— not  to  say  anti- Jewish — influ- 
ences. Hence,  let  the  rabbi  embrace  every  opportunity  to  make 
propaganda  for  his  faith.  Let  nothing  whatsoever  be  permit- 
ted to  take  the  place  of  the  cause  which  legitimately  belongs 
into  the  house  of  God.  The  table  of  the  Lord  is  for  the  show- 
bread  and  the  show-bread  alone. 

And  finally,  the  priests  were  directed  with  reference  to  the 
show-bread  "that  they  themselves  were  to  eat  it"  (Lev.  24:9). 
"Who  does  not  detect  in  this  concluding  injunction  the  duty  of 
the  rabbi  to  live  spiritually  on  the  bread  of  life  which  he  brings 
before  the  Lord?  His  philosophy  and  his  Judaism  should  be 
a  part  of  his  being.  They  should  be  bone  of  his  bone  and  flesh 
of  his  flesh.  In  him  profession  and  practice  should  never  be  at 
variance  with  one  another.  He  should  be  guilty  neither  of 
moral  nor  of  religious  inconsistency.  His  conduct  should  al- 
ways measure  up  to  his  ethical  standard.  His  Jewishness  should 
ever  square  with  his  conception  of  Judaism.  If  he  heralds 
righteousness  as  the  "Leitmotif"  of  human  life,  then  let  him 
not  be  unjust,  unforbearing  and  unkind.  If  he  clamors  for 
reverence  of  the  holy,  then  let  him  not  ignore  traditions  and 
violate  Sabbaths  and  holidays.  Only  as  his  message  appears  to 
mirror  his  conviction  can  the  rabbi  exercise  the  proper  influ- 
ence in  the  unfolding  of  better  men  and  women  and  of  better 

18 


Jews  and  Jewesses.  As  the  children  of  Israel  lay  terror-stricken 
at  the  Red  Sea,  because  they  were  being  pursued  by  Pharaoh 
and  his  mighty  army,  the  Scriptures  describe  them  in  the  words : 
"The  people  feared  the  Lord  and  believed  in  God,  because 
they  believed  in  Moses,  His  servant."  (Ex.  14:31).  Moses  had 
spoken  to  them  in  no  uncertain  accents.  His  assurance  that 
God  would  espouse  their  cause  had  the  true  ring.  Hence,  the 
people's  confidence  in  God.  Let  the  rabbi  have  convictions  and 
he  will  be  sure  to  inoculate  his  constituents.  Convictions  are 
not  only  not  any  less  but  actually  more  contagious  than  either 
smallpox  or  leprosy.  Let  it  ever  be  remembered  that  the  show- 
bread  brought  into  God's  house  must  be  made  the  food  of  the 
rabbi,  if  he  wishes  to  fill  properly  the  sacred  sphere  of  his  priest- 
ly office. 

As  you,  members  of  the  class  of  1908,  contemplate  the 
modern  American  rabbinate  from  this  point  of  view,  you  must 
needs  recognize  the  glorious  character  of  your  chosen  calling. 
You  have  lying  before  you  "a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey,"  the  milk  of  precious  opportunity  and  the  honey  of 
enviable  dignity.  However,  do  not  imagine  that  your  efforts, 
although  ever  so  honest,  will  not  meet  with  opposition.  Diffi- 
culties of  all  kinds  will  confront  you  from  time  to  time.  You 
will  have  to  wage  war  against  overweening  intellectualism, 
self-sufficient  materialism,  obstinate  indifference,  congregational 
commercialism,  official  conceit,  religious  prejudice,  and  persis- 
tent disregard  of  Jewish  rights.  When  these  are  met  by  you 
in  trying  encounter,  do  not  become  disheartened.  Do  not  re- 
gard them  invincible  giants.  The  land  of  rich  promise  will  still 
be  awaiting  you,  provided  you  will  say  to  yourselves: 

"Let  us  go  up  and  we  shall  possess  that  land  with  all  its 
blessings,  for  we  are  well  able  to  overcome  the  enemies."  (Numb. 
13:30.) 

What  you  need  in  order  to  attain  your  longed-for  goal 
is  the  right  temperament.  Display  tact,  fairness,  judgment, 
forbearance,  sympathy,  hopefulness,  dignity  and  perseverance  in 
all  situations  and  you  may  be  sure  of  gratifying  success. 

19 


Nor  become  discouraged  by  those  who  say,  in  justification 
of  their  own  withdrawal  from  the  rabbin'ate,  that,  although  the 
ministry  is  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  it  is  also  "a 
land  that  eonsumeth  its  inhabitants"  (Numb.  13:32),  by  virtue 
of  the  strenuous  life  the  rabbi  is  compelled  to  lead.  It  is  indeed 
true  that  the  ministry  is  not  a  sinecure  at  any  stage  of  the 
rabbi's  career.  It  taxes  his  resources  to  the  utmost.  Its  mani- 
fold responsibilities  leave  him  but  little  time  which  he  can  call 
his  own.  You  shall  observe  this  for  yourselves.  You  will  have 
to  prepare  and  deliver  sermons,  supervise  your  religious  school, 
instruct  all  sorts  of  classes,  officiate  at  the  marriage  altar,  recite 
the  burial  service,  call  on  your  people  in  joy  and  sorrow,  par- 
ticipate in  Jewish  institutional  work,  represent  the  Jew  at  inter- 
denominational assemblies,  and  co-operate  in  all  movements  look- 
ing to  the  development  of  the  civic  conscience.  And,  in  addi- 
tion to  all  this,  you  will  want  to  improve  yourselves  intellectu- 
ally in  order  that  you  may  continue  to  teach.  And  who  knows 
but  what  you  will  have  to  perform  these  many  and  various 
tasks  without  full  and  deserving  recognition !  Unless  you  are 
willing  to  make  sacrifices,  it  is  still  time  for  you  to  turn  back. 
Unless  you  are  prepared  to  struggle  against  obstacles,  it  is  not 
yet  too  late  for  you  to  take  up  another  calling. 

Bear  in  mind  whatever  the  hardships  endured  by  the 
modern  American  rabbi,  they  are  not  comparable  to  those  en- 
dured by  the  leaders  in  Israel,  who  lived  in  this  country  fifty 
or  even  twenty-five  years  ago.  Eeview  the  careers  of  the  pioneers 
and  constructionists,  Leeser  and  Isaacs,  Jastrow  and  Szold, 
Einhorn  and  Samuel  Hirsch,  Lilienthal  and  Wise,  and  your  ob- 
stacles will  fade  away. 

I  have  with  pleasure  obeyed  the  request:  "Speak  unto  the 
priests."  I  bid  you  Godspeed  in  your  glorious  work.  "Prosper 
and  succeed."  "Do  not  become  dismayed."  Priests  of  whom 
it  is  said  "they  shall  be  holy  unto  their  God,  should  never  lose 

hope." 

On  this  day  of  your  consecration  to  your  priestly  calling, 

I  would  have  you  value  your  priestly  office  your  priestly  dignity 

20 


and  your  priestly  duties.  And  as  you  fill  your  office  becomingly, 
maintain  your  dignity  properly  and  perform  your  duties  faith*- 
fully  in  the  course  of  your  ministrations,  your  every  effort  will 
bring  happiness  to  you  personally  and  you  will  be  like  the  priest 
of  old,  of  whom  it  was  said: 

''They  shall  put  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  on  Israel,  so  that 
Israel  may  enjoy  God's  priceless  blessings  unto  all  eternity." 
(Numb.  6:27.)  Amen 


On  Sinai's  Heights  -       Rossini 

Choir 

Conferring  Degree  of  Rabbi       President  Dr.  Kanfmann  Kohler 

Blessed  be  ye  who  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord!  Happy 
ye  who  with  the  valued  possession  of  knowledge  are  to  be  crowned 
with  the  threefold  diadem,  the  diadem  of  the  Law,  the  diadem 
of  the  priesthood,  and  the  diadem  of  leadership  in  Israel,  to 
which  you  will,  I  trust,  by  a  whole  life's  effort,  add  the  diadem 
of  a  good  name  and  an  honored  standing  in  the  community.  In 
the  name,  then,  of  the  Most  High,  and  in  the  presence  of  this 
holy  assembly,  on  behalf  of  the  faculty  of  the  Hebrew  Union 
College  and  its  Board  of  Governors,  I  herewith  hand  to  you  the 
diploma  which  confers  upon  you  the  title  of  rabbi  with  all  its 
rights  and  privileges,  with  all  its  powers  and  prerogatives,  and 
declare  you  to  be  regularly  ordained  masters  of  the  Law,  teach- 
ers and  spiritual  leaders  of  the  Jewish  community.  Henceforth 
your  names  shall  be  called  in  Israel:  Rabbi  Joel  Blau,  Rabbi 
George  Fox  and  Rabbi  Herman  Rosenwasser. 

You,  my  dear  Rabbi  Blau,  have  come  from  abroad  but  a  few 
years  ago  as  a  learned  devotee  of  the  Torah,  may  you  speedily 
become  an  acknowledged  master  of  knowledge  and  amplifier  of 
the  store  of  Jewis'h  learning  in  American  Israel ! 

You,  my  dear  Rabbi  Fox,  have,  as  a  native  Chicagoan,  im- 
bibed from  childhood  up  the  American  spirit  of  progress;  may 

21 


you  ever  harmoniously  blend  true  piety  with  progress,  loyalty 
with  liberalism  in  voicing  the  principles  of  reform  Judaism ! 

And  you,  my  dear  Rabbi  Rosenwasser,  you  have  ever  been  a 
dutiful  and  faithful  disciple;  may  you,  as  a  veritable  disciple 
of  Aaron,  achieve  triumphs  by  the  continuous  pursuit  of  peace 
and  righteohsness,  and  thus  bring  men  nigh  to  God  and  His  law ! 

Differently  as  you  are  constituted,  my  young  friends,  may 
you  be  one  in  zealously  working  for  the  elevation  and  glorifica- 
tion of  Judaism,  and  thus  reflect  new  lustre  upon  your  Alma 
Mater  and  upon  the  Torah,  Israel's  sacred  heritage! 

Remember,  however,  that  not  the  parchment  scroll  in  your 
hands  bestowing  upon  you  the  Hattarath  Horaah,  nor  the  mere 
equipment  for  scholarly  pursuit  constitute  the  fitness  and  the 
worthiness  for  your  high  calling.  Behind  the  learning  there 
must  be  the  man  of  worth  and  dignity.  Behind  the  scholarship 
there  must  be  the  principle  to  vitalize  and  hallow  it ;  behind  the 
schooling  there  must  be  the  spirit  to  lend  it  authority  and  valor. 
Ordination,  substitute  of  the  original  Semikah,  the  laying  on  of 
hands  to  symbolize  the  imparting  of  the  spirit  of  God  as  it  has 
come  down  from  generation  to  generation,  means  consecration 
and  self -consecration  of  Israel's  chosen  ones  to  the  lofty  task  of 
successor  to  prophet  and  priest,  sage  ?nd  scribe  and  expounder 
of  the  law  throughout  the  ages.  It  means  coming  in  touch  with 
the  spirit  which,  in  creating  a  Moses  and  a  Samuel,  an  Amos  and 
Isaiah,  a  Hillel  and  Akiba,  a  Maimonides  and  Nachmanides,  a 
Mendelssohn,  a  Zunz  and  Geiger,  shaped  and  ever  reshaped  the 
faith  of  Israel  through  the  centuries.  And  the  realization  of 
these  spiritual  forces  and  divine  ideals  should  in  response  to 
the  heavenly  voice  saying,  "Whom  shall  I  send?  and  who  will 
go  for  us!"  draw  forth  from  consecrated  hearts  and  consecrated 
lips  the  words:  "Here  am  I,  send  me,  0  Lord!" 

Each  year  on  graduation  day  the  voice  from  on  high  comes 
to  us,  as  it  were,  saying,  "Send  forth  unto  the  congregations  of 
American  Israel  men  endowed  with  the  spirit  of  true  leadership 
and  championship  of  truth  and  of  righteousness.  American  Ju- 

22 


daism  wants  men  imbued  with  fear  of  God,  but  also  with  faith 
in  man  and  humanity ;  men  of  clear  vision  and  profound  insight, 
who  understand  the  needs  of  the  time  and  possess  the  wisdom 
to  follow  the  footsteps  of  God  in  history  and  see  the  working  of 
divine  revelation  in  the  various  epochs  of  human  progress;  men 
of  fearless  courage  to  break  the  idols  of  the  multitude  and  lead 
them  to  lofty  ideals;  men  of  foresight  and  hope,  who  do  not  in 
their  pessimism  raise  the  icry  'backward,'  nor  crave  for  the 
aureole  of  the  medieval  saint  woven  of  mist  and  mystic  stuff. 
Men  we  need  who,  like  Joshua  and  Caleb,  have  faith  in  the 
future  of  our  land  of  promise  and  in  liberty  as  engraved  upon 
Israel's  covenant  tablets1,  not  slaves  yoked  to  the  dead  letter 
and  shackled  by  fossilized  tradition.  Even  our  rabbis  in  the  Tal- 
mud declare  that  'Greater  than  the  revered  scroll  of  Law  is  the 
genius  who  so  interprets  the  letter  as  to  render  it  a  living  and  lib- 
erating force.'  ' 

No,  the  ever-progressive  Jewish  truth  demands  for  each  age 
new  methods  and  new  masters.  You  might  as  well  expect  an 
Admiral  Dewey  to  carry  on  modern  warfare  with  the  ships  and 
armaments  of  the  fifteenth  century  as  attempt  to  satisfy  the  re- 
ligious craving  of  the  Occidental  twentieth  century  Jew  with 
rites  and  practices  suitable  only  to  the  life  of  the  medieval  Jew 
of  the  Ghetto.  This  age  of  ours,  with  its  problems  so  complex 
and  all-absorbing,  with  its  researches  so  profound  and  its  in- 
ventions and  discoveries  so  far-reaching  and  revolutionizing  as 
to  make  all  the  wisdom  of  the  past  pale  into  insignificance  before 
the  achievements,  the  aims  and  prospects  which  loom  up  in  ever 
larger  proportions  before  us;  this  land  of  ours  with  its  oppor- 
tunities, its  resources  and  anticipations  so  boundless  as  to  exert 
an  intoxicating  power  on  the  greatest  and  best  among  us;  this 
generation  of  men  and  women  with  a  horizon,  an  outlook  and  a 
scope  so  large  as  to  dazzle  the  mind  and  bewilder  the  imagina- 
tion, cannot  be  fed  on  the  crumbs  from  the  prepared  table  of 
Joseph  Caro,  nor  on  the  husks  from  the  Sefer  Hasidim  of  Je- 
huda,  the  Saint  of  Regensburg.  Reform  Judaism  is  only  in  its 


first  stage ;  it  will  grow  and  expand  and  deepen  in  its  construct- 
ive power  to  become  what  its  great  pioneers,  the  prophets  of  our 
own  era,  saw  in  their  own  vision — a  religion  of  humanity  in  the 
guardianship  of  Israel,  the  Messiah  of  the  nations.  And  this 
work  will  not  be  undone  by  any  man  or  any  School.  No  Joshua 
ben  Nun  will  stay  the  sun  of  progress,  the  orb  of  light  for 
the  world  in  its  march  along  the  heavens,  nor  will  all  the  forces 
of  retrogression  combined  make  the  dial  of  the  time  in  the  West- 
ern Hemisphere  go  backward.  All  we  need  is  the  men  of  the 
spirit  to  promote  the  work  of  up-building  and  regenerating  Ju- 
daism in  the  sense  of  our  heroic  dead  leaders. 

And  it  is  this  jubilee  day  that  lends  new  inspiration,  new  in- 
centives, new  'Courage  and  hope  to  'all  of  us.  The  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  graduation  from  the  Hebrew  Union  College  pro- 
claims in  clarion  notes  the  triumphant  progress  of  our  cause. 
As  at  each  month's  renewal,  the  Jewish  sages  met  with  the  sym- 
bolic watchword:  "David  the  King  of  Israel  lives  and  abides  in 
our  hope  for  Israel's  rejuvenation,"  so  do  we  today  realize  in 
proud  satisfaction  that  in  the  Hebrew  Union  College  Isaac  M. 
Wise,  the  master-builder,  will  live  forever,  and  with  him  all  the 
great  geniuses  who  have  announced,  established  and  framed  the 
principles  of  Reform  Judaism  for  centuries  to  come.  Blessed 
be  the  memory  of  these  prophetic  spirits  who,  with  the  Moses 
staff  in  their  'hands,  have  drawn  living  waters  anew  from  the 
rock  of  Sinai  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  men  and  women  of  our 
own  generation  and  rejuvenated  Judaism  to  make  it  a  living 
power  for  myriads  of  Jews  yet  unborn.  And  this  staff  of  leader- 
ship handed  to  the  men  sent  forth  from  the  halls  of  the  Hebrew 
Union  College  has  performed  wonders  indeed.  The  one  hundred 
and  twenty  disciples  have  become  a  mighty  power  in  the  land. 
Occupying  leading  positions  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  country,  they  have  cast  new  lustre  upon  Judaism  and  en- 
riched its  blessings  a  hundred-fold  by  digging  new  channels  of 
spiritual  life  and  establishing  new  and  permanent  institutions 
for  the  dissemination  of  light  and  the  practice  of  love  and  right- 

24 


eousness  everywhere.  Well  may  we  exclaim,  "When  all  thy 
children  have  become  disciples  of  the  Lord,  then  will  be  great  the 
peace  of  thy  children,"  of  those  that  reared  and  maintained  thee, 
oh,  blessed  institution  of  learning. 

Accept,  then,  on  behalf  of  the  faculty  and  myself,  our  heart- 
tiest  congratulations  on  this  auspicious  day,  you,  the  venerable 
and  venerated  president  of  the  Board  of  Governors,  and  you 
co-workers,  helpers  and  co-laborers  of  the  immortal  founder  and 
the  president  and  officers  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Con- 
gregations, also  you,  the  Alumni  of  the  College,  and  in  particular, 
the  honor-crowned  first  year's  graduates! 

May  the  twenty-five  years  of  splendid  service  in  the  cause 
of  religion  and  education  signify  to  you  all  a  life  of  lasting  joy 
and  everlasting  glory !  May  the  college  with  its  Alumni  grow 
from  strength  to  strength  and  rise  from  glory  to  glory  until  the 
God  of  truth  and  righteousness  is  enthroned  in  every  human 
heart!  And  may  the  splendid  achievements  and  the  high  ideal- 
ism displayed  by  the  first  graduates  serve  as  an  incentive  and 
inspiring  example  to  this  year's  graduates  and  all  the  succeeding 
generations  of  the  Alumni  who  go  forth  from  this  institution. 

Go  forth,  then,  with  these  manifold  blessings  of  this  day, 
you,  the  graduates  of  this  year,  who  are  privileged  to  rejoice 
with  your  Alma  Mater  in  that  God  has  clothed  her  with  the 
priestly  robes  of  righteousness,  and  bring  good  tidings  to  the 
meek  and  healings  to  broken  hearts.  Be  a  light  to  the  blind,  an 
arm  to  the  helpless  and  a  fountain  of  blessing  and  salvation  to 
all  mankind.  Dare  be  true  and  consistent  in  the  pulpit,  loyal  to 
our  heritage  and  bear  no  yoke  except  God's  while  serving  Israel 
and  humanity.  May  God  bless  you.  Amen. 

Yevorechecho  Snlzer 

Choir 
Valedictory       -  Rabbi  G.  George  Fox 

Declaration  -        Mr.  Bernhnrd  Bettmann 

PRESIDENT  BOARD  or  GOVERNORS  AND  ACTING  PRESIDENT 
UNION  or  AMERICAN  HEBREW  CONGREGATIONS 

Benediction         •  -     Rabbi  Nathan  Stern,  Ph.  D. 

25 


THE  TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY  CELEBRATION 


The  day  was  begun  by  the  assembling  of  the  alumni,  the 
officers  and  faculty  of  the  College  and  the  officers  of  the  Union, 
in  the  beautiful  United  Jewish  Cemetery,  situated  on  Wood- 
burn  avenue,  East  Walnut  Hills,  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the  remains 
of  the  dead  teachers.  Those  present  gathered  about  the  grave 
of  Isaac  M.  Wise,  the  founder  of  the  College.  Rabbi  George 
J.  Solomon  of  Savannah  offered  prayer.  Dr.  Julian  Morgen- 
stern  of  the  College  faculty  delivered  an  address,  followed  by 
a  few  words  by  Rabbi  Louis  Grossmann,  Dr.  Wise's  successor  in 
Bene  Yeshurun  Congregation  and  also  one  of  the  faculty.  As  he 
closed  he  deposited  a  wreath  upon  the  grave.  The  graves  of 
the  other  departed  teachers  were  then  visited  and  a  prayer  offered 
at  each;  at  that  of  Max  Lilienthal  by  Rabbi  David  Philipson 
of  Cincinnati;  at  that  of  Moses  Mielziner  by  Rabbi  Morris  New- 
field  of  Birmingham,  Ala. ;  at  that  of  Solomon  Eppinger  by  Rabbi 
Ephraim  Frisch  of  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.;  at  that  of  Louis  Aufrecht 
by  Rabbi  Joseph  Stolz  of  Chicago.  The  exercises  closed  with 
the  Kaddish  recited  by  Rabbis  Solomon  Foster  of  Newark,  N.  J., 
and  Seymour  G.  Bottigheimer  of  Natchez,  Miss. 


CELEBRATION    OF    THE 

TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY 

OF  THE  GRADUATION  OF  THE  CLASS  OF  '83 


FROM    THE 


HEBREW   UNION  COLLEGE 

TEMPLE     OF     CONGREGATION     BENE     ISRAEL 

ROCKDALE  AVENUE.  AVONDALK 

SUNDAY,  JUNE   28,  19O8,  2:3O  P.  M. 


Psalm  xxiv  -       Goldstein 

Choir 

Salutatory  -     Rabbi  J^eo  M.  Franklin,  Cga) 

PRESIDENT  ALUMNI  ASSOCIATION 

Mr.  Chairman,  My  Fellow  Alumni,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

To  every  graduate  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  this  city  of 
Cineinnati  is  sacred  soil— and  deep-rooted  desire  is  sanctified  by 
the  sense  of  duty  that  bids  us  gather  here  on  this  significant  occa- 
sion. Not  one  of  the  men  among  us  but  feels  the  thrill  of  sacred 
memory  to-day — the  memory  of  youthful  struggles  and  ambitions, 
insignificant  enough  as  we  look  back  on  them,  yet  hallowed  now 
in  the  light  of  life's  later  and  larger  problems  with  which  con- 
tact with  the  living  world  has  brought  us  face  to  face. 

It  was  no  empty  sentiment,  but  the  impulse  of  the  deepest 
reverence  that  bade  us  pilgrim  early  this  morning  to  the  silent 

27 


and  beautiful  city  where  sleep  so  many  of  those  to  whose  inspira- 
tion and  guidance  we  owe  all  that  we  have  and  all  that  we  are. 
At  the  graves  of  Isaac  M.  Wise  and  of  Max  Lilienthal,  of  Louis 
Aufrecht  and  Solomon  Eppinger,  of  Henry  Zirndorf  and  Moses 
Mielziner,  we  remembered — as  we  shall  ever  remember  in  grati- 
tude— that  the  fruitage  which  we  are  enjoying  to-day  was  planted 
amid  mighty  hardships  and  tremendous  difficulties,  by  men  whose 
faith  in  the  holy  cause  to  which  they  had  given  themselves,  was 
so  staunch  and  so  strong,  that  nothing  could  discourage  or  daunt 
them.  With  what  prophetic  vision  had  they  scanned  the  future — 
for  even  greater  than  their  dream  has  been  the  realization,  and 
higher  than  they  dared  to  hope,  the  fulfillment. 

It  is  now  three  and  thirty  years  since  our  beloved  Alma 
Mater  in  its  modest  way  opened  its  doors  to  receive  as  students 
the  four  men  who  come  back  to  you  to-day  after  a  quarter  of  a 
century's  work  as  teachers  and  preachers  of  that  faith  whose  God 
is  Jehovah  and  whose  goal  is  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  the 
triumph  of  righteousness.  They  shall  tell  you  once  again  of  those 
beginning  days  when  our  college  had  to  struggle  not  only  for 
support  but  even  for  recognition,  for  it  is  well  at  a  time  like  this 
"to  remember  the  days  of  old" — the  days  when  American  men 
and  women  scoffed  at  the  suggestion  that  from  the  native  sons 
of  this  soil  it  would  ever  be  possible  to  rear  a  generation  of 
earnest  and  devoted  teachers  of  Israel's  gloried  and  storied  faith. 
And  yet  it  is  not  enough  to  point  to  that  past  to-day.  Too  much 
some  of  us  are  prone  to  live  on  our  life's  yesterdays  and  to 
shine  in  the  reflected  lustre  of  our  ancestral  greatness.  To  be 
sure,  we  Jews  especially,  must  not  forget  the  past  nor  ignore  it. 
The  Jew  is  what  he  is  because  he  knows  what  he  has  been.  The 
philosophy,  "Fur  das  Gewesene  gibt  der  Jude  nichts, "  is  a  puerile 
and  foolish  philosophy.  But  we  must  not  live  in  the  past  but 
only  upon  it.  Upon  the  past  we  must  build  a  future.  A  tri- 
umphant yesterday,  a  glorious  to-day,  must  be  prophetic  of  an 
even  grander  to-morrow.  The  past  of  our  College  recalled  to-day 
— the  memory  of  the  men  who  stood  by  it  in  the  days  of  its  early 


struggles  and  with  their  love  and  their  lives  nursed  it  into  strength, 
must  be  the  inspiration  not  only  to  their  successors  in  office  but 
also  to  us — the  graduates  of  the  College — to  work  and  to  watch 
as  they  did,  for  opportunities  to  herald  to  an  ever-widening  circle 
the  message  of  that  progressive  Judaism  for  which  Isaac  M.  Wise 
and  his  co-workers  stood  so  conscientiously  and  so  consistently. 
To-day  our  graduates  are  carrying  the  message  of  Reform  Juda- 
ism to  communities  large  and  small,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  and  from  the  gulf  cities  to  the  metropolis  of  Canada. 
What  shall  not  the  next  quarter  century  accomplish  if,  with  equal 
heroism  and  equal  devotion,  we  of  this  day  give  ourselves  to  the 
great  and  holy  cause  ? 

Fellow  graduates,  this  is  a  rare  day  when  the  opportunity 
comes  to  us  to  express  to  the  College  and  its  supporters  the  deep 
gratitude  that  is  in  our  hearts,  that  they  have  made  our  careers 
possible ;  yea,  that  through  them  we  have  been  privileged  to  con- 
secrate ourselves  to  the  holiest  service  that  life  offers.  In  the 
name  of  all  of  you  and  of  those  members  of  our  alumni  who  can- 
not be  here,  I  assure  the  men  and  women  of  Cincinnati  that  they 
and  the  College  will  never  cease  to  have  the  warmest  corner  in 
our  hearts.  With  our  words  and  with  our  works,  with  our  loves 
and  with  our  lives,  we  shall  be  true  to  the  institution  that  has 
sent  us  forth  and  to  the  men  whose  love  and  loyalty  have  created 
and  sustained  it. 

With  this  assurance  to  the  friends  of  the  Hebrew  Union  Col- 
lege here  asembled,  I  am  glad  to  say  to  you,  my  colleagues,  as  I 
am  bidden  to  say,  that  you  are  welcome  to  your  old  home  city — 
to  the  city  wherein  your  youth  was  spent  and  whose  traditions 
shall  be  forever  bound  up  for  you  and  for  me  with  the  dearest 
sentiments  of  our  manhood. 


Invocation  Rabbi  Louis  Groasmann,  D.  D.  ('84) 

Whenever  men  have  achieved  a  work  of  which  their  con- 
science approves,  their  hearts  are  uplifted.  They  thank  God, 
who  assigns  tasks  'and  helps  in  the  performance  of  them.  Thus, 
in  this  hour  of  our  joy,  we  address  ourselves  to  God,  feeling  that 
we  have  put  into  our  effort  faith  in  Him,  who  is  with  Israel  in 
its  stern  experiences  and  in  its  ideals.  We  thank  Thee,  0  God, 
that  Thou  hast  granted  to  the  work  of  our  hands  Thy  gracious 
recognition.  We  are  content  and  proud  on  this  day,  as  becomes 
those  who  are  'Conscious  of  their  responsibilities  and  feel  a  manly 
loyalty  to  duty,  which  Thou  dost  forever  approve.  There  is,  to 
be  sure,  a  strain  of  grief  in  our  joy,  for  some  of  those  are  not 
here,  who  have  labored  pre-eminently  beyond  us  all,  and  who 
have  earned  the  recognition  of  fellowmen  and  Thine  approval, 
O  God.  Thou  gavest  to  these  the  joy  of  labor,  the  comfort  of  a 
great  hope,  and  the  delight  of  achievement.  We  thank  Thee  for 
the  gifts  with  which  Thou  didst  invest  them,  and  for  the  zeal 
with  which  their  souls  were  filled  for  causes  that  have  been  so 
abundantly  proven  true  in  our  days.  We  thank  Thee  for  the 
fine  influences,  which  have  been  maintained  amongst  us  for  loy- 
alty to  the  faith  of  our  fathers  and  for  the  sacred  sense  of  those 
verities,  by  which  Israel  has  been  uplifted  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  For  these  our  ancestors  have  suffered  and  in  be- 
half of  these,  we  children  of  another  day  but  of  like  martyrdom 
as  of  like  hopes,  are  ready  to  do  our  duty  to  the  last  necessity. 
We  thank  Thee  for  the  dignity  which  is  ours  by  the  merit  of  our 
fathers  and  for  the  respect  which  we  have  earned  by  the  work 
of  our  hands.  Sustain  us,  that  we  may  make  permanent  the 
reign  of  Truth  and  of  Justice.  Help  us,  who  bear  obligation  before 
Thee,  that  we  may  transmit  that,  which  has  been  entrusted  to 
us,  undiminished  in  usefulness  and  enhanced  in  power  for  good. 
Consecrate  us  under  the  sacrament  of  our  reminiscence  of 
great  and  noble  men,  that  we  may  be  adequate  in  devotion  and 
zeal,  to  work  which  awaits  us  from  day  to  day.  May  we  further 
union  in  Israel  and  re-enforce  'and  deepen  our  faith.  May  this 


day  of  joy,  evoking  gratitude  as  well  as  satisfaction,  enkindle 
in  us  the  chastened  spirit,  by  which  alone  the  holy  things  of  life 
thrive.  May  Israel,  Thy  people,  O  God,  the  people  that  has 
known  many  sorrows  and  few  joys,  be  near  to  Thee  in  joys,  as 
it  was  in  the  days  of  its  sorrows;  may  the  Israel  of  today  which 
mingles  its  sorrows  with  the  sorrows  of  the  world,  but  must  still 
bear  its  own  grief  alone  without  the  sympathy  of  the  world ;  may 
the  Israel  'of  these  cultured  days  which  feels  keener  and  holier 
joys,  that  transcend  the  delight  and  the  pride  of  an  hour;  may 
the  Israel  of  the  larger  hope,  the  united  Israel,  be  stirred  to 
resolute  seizure  of  duty,  and,  understanding  and  feeling  it,  make 
manifest  to  man  and  God  the  priestliness  by  which  it  serves. 
Amen. 

Psalm  xxix  Snlzer 

Choir 

"The  Founding  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College" 

Rabbi  Israel  Aaron,  D.  D.  ('83) 

On  a  day  of  national  rejoicing,  an  inspired  writer  sang: 
"When  the  Eternal  brought  back  the  captivity  of  Zion  we  were 
like  those  who  dream.  Then  was  our  mouth  filled  with  laughter 
and  our  tongues  with  jubilation:  then  said  they  among  the 
people,  the  Eternal  hath  done  great  things  for  these,  the  Eternal 
hath  done  great  things  for  us.  We  are  glad."  (Ps.  cxxvi.) 

In  this  time  of  our  joy  we  are  inclined  to  modify  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Psalmist's  first  line.  Our  memory  on  joyous  pinions 
glides  back  to  the  sweet  "captivity"  of  our  college  days,  and — 
"we  are  like  dreamers."  For  us  the  varied  activities,  great  and 
small,  of  this  quarter-century  seem  to  be  like  dreams  today, 
when  we  come  back  to  our  Alma  Mater  town  like  sons  who, 
travel-wearied  and  far-wandered,  have  returned  to  the  father's 
house.  The  years  of  our  rabbinical  careers  have  been  ingrained 
with  the  influences  and  the  lovely  recollections  of  boyhood 

31 


and  young  manhood  spent  in  the  daily  contact  with  noble  souls. 
Never  did  lads  have  better,  kinder,  saner  foster-parents  than  did 
the  pioneer  students  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  to  whom  Cin- 
cinnati's  hearts  and  Cincinnati's  homes  were  opened  with  such 
engaging  cheerfulness. 

For  none  among  the  living  has  this  anniversary  a  deeper 
concern  than  for  those  who,  twenty-five  years  ago,  in  the  words 
of  the  orator  of  the  day,  went  "from  the  life  at  school  into  the 
school  of  life."  Today  we  feel  again  the  revered  touch  of  our 
great  teacher  consecrating  us  to  the  hallowed  tasks  of  the  rab- 
binate. Overbrimming,  indeed,  would  be  our  cup  of  joy  if  on 
this  silver  celebration,  we  could  grasp  his  fatherly  hand  or  look 
upon  his  loved  and  loving  face.  Like  a  dream  the  years  vanish ! 
We  are  again  humble  participants  in  those  exercises  of  ordina- 
tion, so  significant  to  four  young  men,  but  of  importance  vaster 
far  to  American  Judaism.  Our  very  souls  imbibe  again  the  wise 
monitions  and  the  fraternal  welcome  of  splendid  and  distin- 
guished teachers  in  Israel,  all  of  whom,  save  one — and  he  is 
now  president  of  the  College — have  passed  on  to  the  Academy 
on  High. 

To  me  has  been  accorded  the  pleasant  task  of  recalling  the 
events  of  a  still  earlier  day — the  days  of  the  founding  of  our 
Alma  Mater. 

On  the  third  day  of  October,  1875,  Jeshurun's  beautiful 
Temple — now  the  downtown  sanctuary  of  Cincinnati— gleamed 
gloriously  in  the  soft  autumn  evening.  Israel  of  this  city,  and 
its  immortal  leader,  cheered  on  by  progressive  Israel  of  America, 
were  announcing  to  the  world,  with  elated  hearts  and  stately 
utterance,  the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  house  of  learning — an 
institution  based  upon  the  conviction  that  Judaism  depended  on 
the  knowledge  of  its  great  literature  and  its  wonderful  history, 
and  that  American  Judaism  was  not  a  mere  repetition  of  any 
of  its  previous  forms,  but  a  development  rising  logically  and 
loyally  from  the  past.  With  joyous  acclaim,  with  fervid  oratory 
and  hearts  beating  high  that  magnificent  assemblage  welcomed 

82 


the  new-born  Hebrew  Union  College.  Yet,  splendid  as  the 
chorus  of  mind  and  heart  and  tongue  on  that  jubilating  even- 
ing in  the  grand  old  Alhambric  edifice  was,  it  did  not  equal  in 
significance,  in  heart-thrill,  and  in  simple  majesty  the  memo- 
rable event  of  the  following  day.  It  occurred  in  a  little  room  in 
the  basement  of  the  former  home  of  Bene  Israel  on  Mound  street. 
On  one  side  was  an  aggregation  of  sewing  machines,  on  the  other 
a  long  table,  about  which  sat  eleven  boys,  and  at  its  head  the 
sainted  master.  The  official  and  hearty  addresses,  inaugurating 
the  initial  season  of  the  first  college  class,  had  been  made.  Then 
up  rose  the  majestic  Lilienthal,  silver-crowned  and  face  aglow. 
Addressing  the  lads,  he  said:  "Do  you  know  the  story  of 
Joseph  and  his  dreams?  Well,  there"-— pointing  to  Dr.  Wise — 
"there  sits  Joseph!  He  has  dreamed  this  dream  for  twenty- 
five  years,  and  now  it  has  come  to  pass — the  eleven  stars  are 
bowing  to  him!"  Words  more  dramatic,  more  touching  and 
more  fitting  could  have  been  uttered. 

And  now  let  us  see  under  what  circumstances  and  in  what 
manner  this  dream  was  realized. 

When  the  idea  first  came  to  Dr.  Wise  conditions  more  ad- 
verse could  not  have  confronted  the  proposition  of  a  rabbinical 
seminary.  The  Jews  who  came  to  these  shores  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  last  century  were  for  the  most  part  moneyless,  and, 
like  all  pioneers,  were  absorbed  in  the  endeavor  to  establish 
themselves  in  life,  in  the  pursuit  of  fortune,  or  the  accumulation 
of  !a  competence.  The  possibility  of  a  lad  devoting  himself  to 
the  ideals  of  the  Jewish  ministry  was  never  even  remotely  as- 
sociated with  the  rosy  visions  of  a  young  man's  future.  "Amer- 
ican boys  will  never  become  rabbis!"  was  a  prevailing  plati- 
tude. It  was  a  time  of  stress  and  struggle.  Idealistic  tenden- 
cies were  submerged,  and  the  thirst  for  higher  Jewish  education 
was  waiting  till  the  Jew's  appetite  for  material  success  was 
satisfied. 

Another  stupendous  obstruction  lay  in  the  hopeless  con- 
trariety in  membership,  usages  and  rituals  of  the  various  con- 

33 


gregations.  Sometimes  these  differences  fomented  violent  an- 
tagonism, and  the  prevailing  religious  Babel  was  surcharged 
with  bitterness.  But  the  battle  raged  with  increased  acrimony 
and  fury  when  the  robust  figure  of  young  reform  joined 
issue  with  the  combatants.  Congregations  were  rent  asunder, 
and  even  families  divided.  The  din  of  theological  turmoil  re- 
sounded wherever  and  whenever  the  legions  of  light  and  the 
cohorts  of  darkness  encountered  each  other.  Harmony,  union, 
the  concentration  of  all  energies  upon  a  single  undertaking 
seemed  beyond  the  purview  of  the  most  sanguine  visionary. 

Brave,  indeed,  was  he,  and  endowed  with  foresight 
prophetic  and  boundless  optimism,  who,  confronted  by  such  tow- 
ering obstacles,  could  aspire  to  unite  all  opposing  elements  in 
the  establishment  of  a  rabbinical  school — and  to  aspire  to  do  it 
so  far  from  the  center  of  Jewish  population.  Yet,  with  but  four 
Jewish  reform  congregations  in  the  land,  as  his  soul  kindred, 
with  a  large  Jewish  element  aspersing  him  as  the  arch  enemy  of 
his  people,  assailed  by  a  constantly  increasing  rabbinical  hos- 
tility, as  well  as  by  the  misgivings  of  those  in  sympathy  with 
him,  Isaac  Meyer  Wise,  driven  by  the  sanest  (conclusions  from 
existing  unfavorable  conditions,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, sent  forth,  full-voiced,  certain-sounding  and  mandatory, 
the  cry  of  the  wilderness-prophet.  " Prepare  ye  the  way!"  A 
prophet,  he,  who  felt  that  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  could  turn  the 
wilderness  into  a  blooming  garden.  A  good  man,  he,  who  lived 
his  conviction,  ready  at  all  times  to  give  his  time,  his  money, 
his  health,  and  every  selfish  ambition  for  the  truth  of  God  and 
for  the  elevation  of  Israel.  Success  or  failure,  triumph  or  de- 
feat, public  applause  or  secret  tears — no  matter  which  were  to 
be  his  lot— he  could  not  have  done  other  than  he  did.  His  was 
the  passion  to  give. 

And  so,  in  a  very  real  sense,  the  Hebrew  Union  College  was 
founded  in  Bohemia,  just  as,  according  to  the  Iron  Duke,  the 
battle  of  Waterloo  was  won  at  Eton.  Isaac  M.  Wise  came  to 
America  with  the  germ-idea  of  this  institution  unfolding  silently 

84 


and  unconsciously  in  some  choice  garden  spot  of  his  mind.  Con- 
ditions in  America  stimulated  it  into  flower.  To  him  it  was 
clear  that  Judaism  had  more  than  once  been  saved  by  the  school, 
and  he  foresaw  that  American  environment  would  modify  tradi- 
tions and  conceptions;  and  he  believed  that  the  resultant  new 
phase  of  the  old  faith  would  be  conserved  and  fostered  best  by 
teachers  who  matured  in  the  land  of  its  development. 

But  how  was  this  to  be  accomplished?  The  analytic  mind  of 
the  master  lit  unerringly  upon  the  only  method  practicable  in  that 
era  of  formation  and  violent  antipathies.  A  rabbinical  college  could 
only  be  built  upon  some  plan  leading  to  harmonization.  Two 
years  after  he  landed  in  America  there  radiated  over  the  country, 
from  his  luminous  pen,  a  fervent  appeal  for  a  convention  of  con- 
gregational representatives.  The  time  for  this,  however,  had  not 
yet  come.  But  the  indomitable  Wise  wavered  not.  With  printed 
page  and  spoken  word  he  hewed  out  an  ever-increasing  circle 
of  sympathy  for  the  cause.  And  when  he  came  to  his  own  peo- 
ple in  this  city  the  hope  for  the  success  of  his  favorite  project 
was  mightily  invigorated.  Under  this  new  heaven,  and  in  this 
new  earth,  the  loved  tree  of  his  life  would  take  root  and  flourish. 

Nor  was  he  doomed  to  disappointment.  For,  in  1855,  the 
Zion  Collegiate  Association  was  formed,  each  member  pledging 
$10  annually,  and,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  the  Zion  College, 
with  fourteen  students  and  five  professors,  was  opened.  But, 
in  the  language  of  the  founder,  "the  time  was  not  yet  ripe  for 
it."  After  a  year's  earnest  work  the  doors  were  closed — a 
transient  triumph,  but  prophetic  of  the  glorious  and  decisive 
victory  still  to  come.  Dr.  Wise  and  his  sturdy  friends  continued 
the  propaganda.  The  college-idea  was  steadily  conquering  new 
friends  for  itself.  It  assumed  a  prominent  place  on  the  program 
of  several  rabbinical  conferences  especially  on  that  of  the  one 
held  in  this  city,  in  June  1870.  Humble  Henry  Adler  came  for- 
ward to  inspirit  the  lovers  of  light  and  progress  with  his  con- 
tribution of  $10.000  to  the  cause  of  the  college,  depositing  $2,000 
with  the  Bene  Yeshurum  Congregation  as  an  earnest  of  his  sin- 
cerity. 

35 


The  final  advance  toward  the  triumphant  conclusion  of  the 
long  struggle  oecured  in  the  winter  of  1873 — influenced,  perhaps, 
by  the  call  of  Dr.  Wise  to  New  York.  The  people  of  Cincinnati 
rabbis  and  congregations,  obliterating  all  demarcations,  with 
an  inspiring  and  beautiful  consensus,  invited  the  congregational 
societies  of  the  South  and  the  West  to  join  them  in  a  meeting, 
to  consider  questions  of  common  Jewish  interest,  and  the  ad- 
vancement of  Jewish  education.  This  convention  was  held  July 
8,  1873,  by  the  representatives  of  34  congregations.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  three  day's  session,  congregational  union  in  Amer- 
ican Israel  became  an  established  fact,  and  the  college  was  as- 
sured. At  last,  at  last,  after  the  weary  years  of  work  and  wait- 
ing, the  day  dawned — the  first  rosy  fingers  of  the  aurora  of 
the  college  reddened  the  horizon! 

In  the  following  year  the  delegates  to  the  first  council  in 
the  city  of  Cleveland,  with  inspiring  unanimity,  resolved  to 
establish  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  and  on  July  14,  1875,  the 
second  council,  convening  in  Buffalo,  to  open  the  doors  of  our 
beloved  Alma  Mater,  on  the  third  day  of  the  following  October. 
And  in  this  anniversary  season  we  may  well  repeat: 

DT»3  w^n  *r»  by  'Krv^n  uyb  w^n  jtrnw  am  worn  7-0 

:(ns  raw) 

"Blessed  be  the  Merciful  One  who  gave  the  threefold  law 
to  the  threefold  people  through  the  agency  of  our  Moses,  in  the 
third  day."  (Sabbath  88».) 

The  College  was  the  child  of  persistent  devotion  to  an  idea. 
But  even  the  master,  tireless,  indefatigable  as  he  was,  would  have 
failed  had  it  not  been  for  the  character  of  the  men  who  stood 
with  him  and  by  him.  Rarely  was  leader  blessed  with  wiser, 
braver  friends  or  supporters.  Rarely  has  cause  been  upheld  by 
more  amiable  and  firmer  protagonists.  Here  he  found  men  with 
hearts,  men  with  minds,  men  with  the  divine  quality  of  enthu- 
siasm for  ideals.  Many  of  them  sleep  with  their  two  great 
leaders  in  the  beautiful  God's  acre  of  this  people.  We  cherish 

36 


their  memory.    Some  of  them  are  still  with  us,  still  aglow  with 
the  old  spirit,  still  inspiring  and  inspired. 

The  visions  that  clustered  about  the  founding  of  the  He- 
brew Union  College  have  been  followed  by  thirty-three  years  of 
radiant  realization.  The  rosy  dawn  has  broadened  into  the 
perfect  day.  The  divine  spirit  which  rose  'above  the  chaos  of 
pioneer  Israel — expressed  in  the  motto  of  Dr.  Wise,  'Let  there 
be  light!" — has  spread  the  light,  and  our  hearts  are  full  of 
gratitude  inexpressible. 

"The  Work  Accomplished  by  the  Hebrew  Union  College  " 

Rabbi  Henry  Borkowitas,  D.  D.  ('83) 

Competent  critics  of  the  American  people  declare  that  our 
greatest  National  sin  is  haste.  We  are  impatient  of  processes. 
We  demand  results.  The  man  "who  does  things"  is  our  hero. 
Our  God  is  success.  On  an  occasion  of  this  kind  we  are  in  danger 
of  yielding  to  the  enticements  of  this  besetting  sin  of  the  Amer- 
ican. Twenty-five  years — but  two  and  a  half  decades — is  alto- 
gether too  brief  a  period  to  give  us  an  accurate  perspective  for 
measuring  the  work  accomplished  by  the  Hebrew  Union  College. 
Let  us  be  on  our  guard,  on  this  happy  festival,  lest  we  magnify 
our  theme  and  indulge  in  inflated  exaggerations  and  pompous 
boastings.  On  the  other  hand,  let  us  look  eye  to  eye  into  the 
realities  we  see  and  put  no  bar  on  the  full  and  joyous  celebra- 
tion of  what  twenty-five  years  have  wrought  in  the  continued 
life  and  development  of  our  beloved  Alma  Mater. 

Earnest  work  has  been  done  and  effectively  done.  In  con- 
templating the  contrasts  between  this  day  and  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  we  may  with  whole  hearted  enthusiasm  declare, 
''This  is  the  day  the  Lord  hath  made.  Let  us  rejoice  and  be 
glad  thereon." 

The  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  gathered  in 
this  city  twenty-five  years  ago  to  witness  the  first  ordination  of 
rabbis  in  America.  The  delegates  gathered  from  all  quarters 

87 


of  the  land,  culled  out  a  holiday  and  marked  the  solemn  act  as 
an  historic  event  in  the  progress  of  American  Israel.  How  joy- 
ous was  that  day  when  after  the  long  and  arduous  labors  of  the 
pioneer  years,  our  revered  'and  beloved  master,  Dr.  Wise,  led 
us  forth  in  the  presence  of  his  people,  and  bestowed  on  us,  his 
"College  Boys"  the  consecrating  "Semicha."  The  touch  of 
his  vanished  hand  is  still  on  my  brow,  and  its  benediction  has 
remained  and  will  ever  remain  an  inspiration  unto  blessing. 
The  glowing  emotions  of  that  hour  suffused  our  heavens  with 
a  radiant  light.  For  us  it  was  the  light  of  dawn,  the  awak- 
ening of  hope,  alert  with  expectancy. 

That  was  a  grave  experiment  we  then  undertook.  "The 
first  graduates,"  we  were  told,  "will  make  or  ruin  the  college." 
The  alumni  now  numbers  137  men.  Following  in  the  wake  of 
our  little  pioneer  band  of  four,  all  these  rallied  to  the  service  of 
American  Israel.  This  fact  and  all  it  connotes,  speaks  of  work 
accomplished  by  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  and  justifies  our 
jubilation  now. 

How  the  work  was  done  within  the  sacred  precincts  of 
the  college  walls  is  a  matter  of  record.  The  testimony  of 
many  of  the  leading  American  Jewish  scholars,  who  came 
from  year  to  year  to  conduct  the  public  examinations  is 
a  continuous  record  of  the  advance  made  in  the  creation, 
gradual  development  and  improvement  of  the  curriculum  and 
of  the  methods  and  standards  of  instruction.  A  home  was 
thus  built  for  the  Thorah  in  this  land  of  the  great  west.  That 
very  deed  in  itself  was  perhaps  the  most  far-reaching  piece  of 
work  accomplished,  because  it  gave  a  new  stability  to  Judaism 
in  the  new  world.  Twenty-five  years  have  shown  that  the  Anshe 
Maarab,  the  men  of  the  west,  are  no  less  zealous  than  the  Anshe 
Mizrach,  the  men  of  the  east.  When  we  are  admonished  that 
the  Orient  gave  religion  to  the  world,  we  respond  by  declaring 
that  the  Occident  has  not  merely  accepted  but  also  vitalized  it. 
Contrast  the  torpor  that  still  casts  so  heavy  a  spell  over  Asia  with 
the  vigorous  power  of  initiative  in  behalf  of  every  movement  for 

38 


moral,  educational  and  religious  advance  which  distinguishes 
America,  and  especially  the  men  and  women  west  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains.  It  was  this  courageous  spirit  of  initiative  that 
brought  together  a  faculty  of  scholarly  men,  whose  very  organiza- 
tion accomplished  the  effect  of  giving  authoritativeness  to  in- 
struction in  the  great  literature  of  Israel.  Here,  for  the  first  time 
in  America,  the  science  of  Judaism  was  cultivated.  Here,  for  the 
first  time  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  Jewish  learning  was 
adorned  with  academic  honors  and  dignities. 

Whatever  movements  have  been  inaugurated  during  this 
quarter  century  to  foster  Jewish  knowledge  have  owed  a  large 
measure  of  support  to  the  college  and  its  faculty  and  their  dis- 
ciples. Apart  from  the  books  written  by  individuals  and  the 
articles  contributed  to  periodicals,  the  work  accomplished  in  this 
field  is  prominent  in  the  volumes  of  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  in 
the  Year  Books  of  the  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis 
and  Jewish  Historical  Society,  in  the  works  of  the  Jewish  Publica- 
tion Society  and  other  publications.  These  are  the  first  fruits  of  a 
scholarship  which  is  as  ripe  as,  although  it  may  not  have  the  mel- 
lowness of  old  world  products.  Our  distinguished  President  Dr. 
Kohler  and  his  learned  faculty  are  the  peers  of  those  now  engaged 
in  the  labor  of  enriching  modern  Jewish  scholarship.  They  will 
in  their  turn  rear  a  worthy  band  of  young  scholars  to  take  up 
such  research  work  in  which  we  older  men  were  largely  denied 
the  privilege  of  indulging. 

The  haste  and  hurry  of  the  conditions  which  surrounded  us 
called  for  and  still  insistently  demand  intellectual  endeavor  of  a 
different  kind.  It  has  been  our  task  to  go  forth  in  the  spirit  of 
the  High  Priest,  Joshua  Ben  Gamala,  to  prevent  the  utter  neglect 
of  Talmud  Thorah  among  the  people  at  large.  As  he  established 
schools  for  the  youth  of  every  community  in  the  Holy  Land,  so 
has  the  Hebrew  Union  College  through  its  graduates  accomplished 
a  positive  work  in  the  organization  of  religious  schools  and  con- 
gregations in  hundreds  of  cities  and  towns  in  America,  saving 
thousands  of  Jewish  children  and  thousands  of  Jewish  homes  from 


89 


wanton  religious  neglect.  Moreover  the  contrast  between  the 
best  of  our  religious  schools  of  twenty-five  years  ago  and  of  today* 
reveals  one  of  the  most  striking  achievements  brought  about  in 
largest  measure  through  the  work  of  the  men  of  the  college.  It 
it  apparent,  even  in  the  architecture  of  our  synagogs.  Formerly 
the  schools  were  relegated  to  dark  and  dingy  basement  rooms,  de- 
void of  all  attractiveness,  and  of  proper  sanitary  and  educational 
equipment.  Today  emphasis  is  placed  primarily  on  these  require- 
ments, and  money  is  spent  lavishly  to  secure  them.  These  external 
changes  are,  however,  but  an  index  of  the  inner  changes  that 
have  transformed  the  rude,  disorderly  unsystematic  'Heder,  or 
Jewish  Day  School,  into  the  modern  Religious  School,  wherein  the 
extraordinary  advance  made  in  recent  years  in  child-study  and 
the  science  of  pedagogy  find  ardent  application.  Parents  are 
everywhere  enthusiastic  to-day  when  they  'contrast  the  old 
obnoxious  system  which  male  religious  instruction  distasteful 
with  the  spirit  of  our  schools  filled  with  eager  youths,  in 
whom  a  warm  hearted  devotion  to  Judaism  is  enkindled  by  ra- 
tional and  attractive  methods.  We  may  rightfully  claim  that 
earnest  and  effective  work  has  been  done  to  translate  into  the 
living  truth  the  motto  inscribed  on  the  seal  of  the  Union  and 
stamped  on  the  diploma  of  the  college,  which  gave  us  the  Hattarat 
Hora'ah,  license  to  teach:  "Education  exceeds  all  else,"  for 
"The  fruitage  thereof  is  enjoyed  now,  while  the  stalk  remains 
imperishable." 

Next  in  importance  to  the  work  done  for  the  schools  has 
been  that  undertaken  for  the  pulpit.  No  one  can  gain-say  that 
the  past  quarter  century  has  witnessed  a  noteworthy  advancement 
in  the  standard  of  the  American  Jewish  pulpits.  Before  that  time 
the  few  large  congregations  of  the  great  cities,  who  possessed 
the  means,  imported  their  rabbis  from  abroad.  Thus  came  the 
Adlers,  Einhorn  and  Hirsh,  Merzbacher  and  Gottheil,  Wise  and 
Lillienthal,  Leeser  and  Raphael,  Jastrow  and  Szold,  Morais  and 
Mendez,  Huebsch  and  Mielziner,  Kohler  and  Kohut,  and  a  few 
other  men  of  solid  attainments  and  sterling  character. 

40 


Many  of  the  other  pulpits,  especially  in  the  smaller  places, 
were  victimized  by  misfits  and  undesirables  of  every  class,  whose 
learning  was  an  ignorant  jumble  and  whose  laxity  of  character 
often  led  to  woeful  tragedies.  Men  from  the  college  are  de- 
manded now  everywhere,  because  their  records  are  known  and 
approved.  "We  have  had  a  few  unfortunates  among  our  students 
and  graduates.  While  we  bewail  their  failure,  we  rejoice  in  the 
establishment  of  those  rigorous  standards  of  rectitude  for  the 
ministry,  to  which  the  congregations  have  risen  through  the  very 
existence  and  work  of  the  college  itself. 

The  rabbis  of  the  generation,  which  has  passed  to  its  eternal 
reward,  were  men  of  heroic  mould.  They  had  a  gigantic  task  to 
perform.  It  fell  to  them  to  solve  the  difficult  problems  attendant 
on  the  vast  migration  which  swept  to  these  shores  in  the  middle 
of  the  last  century  from  northern  Europe.  Theirs  was  a  life  and 
death  struggle  in  behalf  of  Judaism.  Its  survival  in  America, 
some  contended,  depended  on  Reform ;  equally  zealous  were  those 
who  insisted  on  the  rigid  maintenance  of  Orthodoxy.  The  ser- 
mons of  the  rabbis  reflected  these  contentions.  Profound,  enthusi- 
astic, eloquent,  as  were  their  discourses,  too  often,  alas,  these  were 
marred  by  a  spirit  of  bitterness,  which  halted  not  at  invective, 
scorn  and  personal  abuse.  It  is  a  happy  fact  that  our  pulpits 
have  been  almost  entirely  cleansed  in  this  respect.  "We  owe  this 
to  the  Hebrew  Union  College.  Rabbis  reared  and  trained  by  the 
same  Alma  Mater,  learned  to  respect  each  other's  differences.  We 
fight  not  men,  but  measures.  All  along  the  line,  Orthodox  and 
Reformers  have  learned  to  treat  each  other  with  greater  fairness 
in  obedience  to  the  dictum  of  the  sages:  "Every  rightful  con- 
tention in  the  name  of  Heaven  will  ultimately  triumph." 

Our  preaching  these  twenty-five  years  has  been  necessarily 
direct  and  practical.  We  have  tried  to  expound  the  idealism  of 
our  religion  in  such  way  as  to  make  it  effective  as  an  inspiration 
to  the  people  in  their  daily  conduct.  We  have  not  dealt  in  specu- 
lations, but  with  the  stern  realities  of  life  that  have  forced  their 
issues  upon  our  generation.  We  have  had  little  time  for  dogmatic 

41 


sermons.  Great  religious,  moral  and  social  problems,  of  which  our 
fathers  knew  nothing,  have  agitated  the  heart  of  Israel  among 
the  nations.  No  man  has  allowed  himself  to  be  "muzzled"  in  the 
discussion  of  the  great  problems  of  our  age.  Imbibing  the  Amer- 
ican spirit  of  Dr.  Wise,  each  one  has  freely  proclaimed  the  truth 
that  was  in  his  heart.  And  thus,  the  standards  of  fearlessness  and 
freedom  of  thought  -and  speech  which  characterized  the  pulpits  of 
Wise,  Einhorn,  Hirsch  and  the  others,  have  been  manfully  upheld 
by  the  graduates  of  the  college. 

We  have  indicated  what  the  college  has  done  for  the  school 
and  for  the  pulpit ;  let  us  observe  in  conclusion  what  the  college 
has  done  for  the  people.  The  past  quarter  century  has  inscribed 
a  new  chapter  of  stupendous  significance  in  the  annals  of  Jewish 
history.  Kishineff  is  synonymous  with  the  transfer  of  the  center 
of  Jewish  interests  and  activities  from  Europe  to  America. 

In  this  interval  we  have  grown  from  a  quarter  million  to 
more  than  a  million  and  a  quarter  people.  This  vast  influx  from 
eastern  and  southern  Europe  has  brought  in  its  wake  vast  changes 
in  American  Jewish  life,  affecting  every  section  of  the  land  and 
every  element  of  the  people.  Old  problems  under  new  forms  now 
recur  incident  to  the  readjustment  of  these  masses  of  our  brethren 
to  the  social,  economic  and  political  conditions  of  their  new  and 
strange  environment.  Inevitable  changes  have  also  taken  place 
during  these  twenty-five  years  in  the  religion  of  the  immigrant. 
The  organization  of  the  Jewish  Theological  Seminary  of  New 
York  was  one  of  the  results.  Another  result  was  the  defection 
from  the  seminary  because  it  required  of  its  graduates  a  uni- 
versity training.  This  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Elkanan 
Spektor  Jeshiba.  The  latter  is  devoted  rigidly  to  upholding  the 
medieval  system  of  rabbinical  education  in  America,  and  both 
are  committed  to  the  principle  of  Orthodoxy,  which  sets  itself 
blindly  and  stubornly  against  every  innovation.  Another  result 
of  the  new  immigration  has  been  the  restoration  of  the  old  'Heder. 
In  some  places  it  has  become  a  sin  for  a  teacher  to  instruct  Hebrew 
in  anything  but  the  jargon.  Yiddish  is  falsely  extolled  as  a  sacred 
tongue. 

43 


The  so-called  Orthodox  synagogs  do  not,  as  a  rule,  support 
schools  for  their  children,  nor  do  they  take  any  account  of  the 
changes  in  the  religious  life  of  their  young  men  and  women. 
These,  flocking  into  the  High  Schools  and  Universities  and  fol- 
lowing the  crowd  into  all  sorts  of  socialistic,  anarchistic  and 
atheistic  meetings,  too  often  become  infidels  and  active  opponents 
of  religion. 

The  college  has  stood  forth  in  the  midst  of  these  distressing 
conditions  the  sole  organized  exponent  of  higher  education  in 
Judaism  dedicated  to  the  principle  of  progress.  It  has  stood 
firmly  on  the  conviction  that  Judaism  is  not  merely  a  code,  nor 
a  creed,  but  a  life.  Life  is  movement.  Our  history  is  character- 
ized by  a  conscious  purpose,  inspiring  and  guiding  its  onward 
movement  through  the  ages.  Our  intellectual  life  did  not  lose 
itself  in  a  mere  pilpulistic  jumble  but  has  an  articulate  succes- 
sion of  schools  of  thought,  a  science  of  Judaism.  Therefore,  the 
college  set  its  men  to  work  out  for  the  present  day  and  hour  the 
problem  of  making  Judaism  a  force  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
growing  generation  to  conserve  the  moral  supports,  strengthen 
and  guide  conduct  and  to  deepen  the  spiritual  elements  of  char- 
acter. 

President  Schurman  of  Cornell  made  a  notable  utterance  a 
few  days  ago  when  addressing  the  graduating  class  at  Cornell 
University.  Said  he:  "Vast  changes  are  taking  place  in  the 
religious  life  of  our  time  as  a  result  of  the  critical  and  destructive 
movement.  Among  these  changes  I  discern  two  dangers,  both 
of  which  should  be  strenuously  combated.  One  is  an  increase  of 
superstition  among  minds  which  cannot  stand  the  light  of  free 
inquiry  and  criticism.  The  other  is  an  advance  toward  infidelity 
by  minds  which  have  only  felt  the  negative  results  of  physical 
science  and  historical  research." 

This  warning  has  peculiar  and  most  direct  reference  to  con- 
ditions amongst  us.  We  have  our  obscurantists,  who,  even  as  the 
ostrich  hides  its  head  in  the  sand,  would  hide  their  heads  from 
the  light  of  free  inquiry  and  research  in  the  dark  mysticisms  of 

48 


an  obsolete  medievalism.  We  have  a  host  of  Nihilists  in  religion, 
those  whose  minds  have  felt  only  the  negative  results  of  physical 
science  and  historical  research,  but  have  not  advanced  to  the 
positive  and  constructive  standpoint.  The  only  agency  which 
openly  recognizes  these  dangers  and  fearlessly  combats  them  is 
the  college,  through  the  spread  of  its  progressive  principles.  De- 
spite its  defects  and  limitations  the  work  accomplished  by  the 
Hebrew  Union  College  among  the  people  has  been  of  incalculable 
value. 

Witness  the  manly  attitude  toward  their  religion,  character- 
izing the  hosts  of  men  and  women  in  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations  and  compare  it  with  the  paltering,  cow- 
ardly, and  often  treasonable  doings  among  the  Jews  abroad. 
Witness  the  spirit  in  which  these  men  and  women  of  our  con- 
stituency have  faced  and  met  their  share  of  the  responsibility  in 
the  gravest  crisis  which  has  perhaps  ever  confronted  any  genera- 
tion of  Israelites  in  our  long  and  checkered  career.  Mark  the 
extraordinary  agencies  created  by  them  in  every  city  and  town 
of  the  land  to  help  their  brethren  in  their  every  need,  at  the 
expense  of  millions  of  money  and  untold  offerings  of  time,  energy 
and  devoted  service.  However  weak  they  may  be  in  matters  of 
observance,  the  hearts  of  our  people  beat  true  in  matters  of  prin- 
ciple. With  all  proper  acknowledgment  of  the  splendid  efforts 
of  the  rabbis,  not  children  of  our  Alma  Mater,  fancy,  if  you  can, 
American  Jewry  during  the  past  twenty-five  years  devoid  of  the 
Hebrew  Union  College  and  the  influences  which  have  radiated 
from  it  is  a  center.  Then  by  way  of  contrast  mark  the  actual 
work  accomplished  by  the  college  for  school,  pulpit  and  people, 
and  you  will  unite  with  me  in  the  fervent,  grateful  outburst  of 
praise  to  God: 

"This  is  the  day  the  Lord  hath  made, 
Let  us  rejoice  and  be  glad  thereon." 

Etz  Chayim  Meyerbeer 

Mrs.  John  C.  Herah  and  Choir 

44 


"The  Fntnre  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College  " 

Rabbi  Joseph  Krauskopf,  D.  D.  ('83) 

It  was  shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College, 
in  the  year  1875.  In  the  vestry  of  the  Temple  of  Congregation 
B'nai  Israel,  of  this  city,  surrounded  by  a  few  students,  sat  Dr. 
Wise,  engaged  in  conversation  with  a  visiting  rabbi.  "Do  you 
really  believe  that  the  Hebrew  Union  College  will  succeed?" 
asked  of  Dr.  Wise  his  visitor.  "Do  you  really  believe  that  Amer- 
ican Israel  will  support  it,  will  have  faith  in  the  ability  of  its 
students  to  preach  and  teach  in  its  prominent  pulpits?"  With 
considerable  fire  in  his  voice,  Dr.  Wise  replied :  "In  twenty-five 
years  from  now  there  will  be  few  of  even  the  most  prominent 
pulpits  in  the  land  that  will  not  be  filled  by  graduates  of  this 
college."  The  visitor  shook  his  head  dubiously  and  said:  "It 
will  not  be  as  easy  as  your  enthusiasm  leads  you  to  believe." 
"True,"  answered  Dr.  Wise,  "it  will  not  be  easy.  These  boys 
will  have  many  a  rough  road  to  travel,  and  many  a  hard  battle 
to  fight.  But  they  will  get  to  the  front,  for  American  Israel  needs 
them  far  more  than  they  need  American  Israel." 

I  have  heard  many  predictions  of  Dr.  Wise,  but  none  that 
so  impressed  me  as  the  one  just  quoted.  It  was  uttered  at  a 
time  when  we  students  ourselves  had  our  misgivings  as  to  our 
future,  when  everything  about  the  college  seemed  to  predict  fail- 
ure. The  Jewish  press  teemed  with  attacks.  Occupants  of  leading 
Jewish  pulpits  sneered  and  ridiculed.  Even  supporters  of  the 
undertaking  openly  expressed  their  doubt.  There  were  yet  other 
reasons  for  discouragement.  Never  was  a  college  started  under 
more  unfavorable  auspices.  Our  one  class  room  was  a  dingy 
synagog-vestry  room.  Our  library  consisted  of  a  dozen  donated 
Hebrew  prayer-books,  which  likewise  served  as  our  text-books. 
Our  faculty  consisted  of  two  voluntary  instructors  and  one  Sab- 
bath-school teacher.  Our  student  body  consisted  of  a  few  local 
boys,  who  had  no  intention  to  fit  themselves  for  the  ministry,  a 
few  other  boys,  who  had  no  desire  for  that  calling,  and  four 
others,  the  only  four  who  completed  the  course. 

45 


Twenty-five  years  'have  since  passed  by  and  Dr.  Wise's  pre- 
diction has  been  fulfilled.  To  have  dared  such  a  statement  at 
that  time  proves  him  to  have  been  more  than  a  master-leader  and 
master-scholar,  proves  him  to  have  been  a  prophet  as  well,  for 
only  one  of  a  prophet's  vision  could  have  foreseen  success  when 
all  things  pointed  to  failure,  could  have  prophesied  Hebrew 
Union  College  graduates  occupying  the  prominent  pulpits  of  the 
land,  at  a  time  when  nearly  every  occupant  of  those  pulpits  had 
nothing  but  derision  for  the  faculty  and  students  and  general 
equipment  of  that  college. 

And  a  prophet  Dr.  Wise  proved  himself  also  in  his  prediction 
that  the  road  to  success  would  not  be  an  easy  one,  that  many  a 
hard  battle  would  have  to  be  fought  before  the  success  of  the 
reform  movement  would  be  assured. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  present  generation  adequately  to  realize 
how  reform  was  regarded  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  To  thou- 
sands, especially  in  the  east,  it  stood  for  a  synonym  of  everything 
destructive  of  Judaism,  for  innovations  that  aimed  at  nothing 
short  of  a  conversion  of  Jew  into  Christian.  To  pave  the  way 
for  such  conversion,  the  Orthodox  claimed,  reform  had  substituted 
the  vernacular  for  the  Hebrew,  new-fangled  notions  for  time- 
honored  customs,  had  introduced  worship  with  uncovered  head, 
family  pews,  organ,  mixed  choir,  Sunday  service,  and  a  number 
of  other  so-called  Christian  practices. 

We  had  no  sooner  entered  upon  our  labor  than  we  en- 
countered the  opposition  in  all  its  hostility.  There  was  no  term 
of  opprobrium  too  bitter  to  express  Orthodoxy's  abhorrence  of 
the  college  and  its  graduates.  In  pulpit  and  press,  wrathful  ful- 
minations  were  preached  and  published  against  our  heresies ;  and, 
almost  in  the  spirit  of  the  old-time  ban,  young  and  old  were 
entreated  not  to  atend  our  service.  From  general  attack  not  a 
few  resorted  to  personalities.  We  had  no  right  to  speak  on  mat- 
ters Jewish,  they  claimed,  because  we  were  no  Hebrew  scholars, 
because  we  had  not  drunk  from  the  fount  of  Hebrew  lore  at 
European  seats  of  learning,  because  we  were  too  incompetent  to 
speak  in  the  name  of  Judaism  and  to  labor  in  its  behalf. 

46 


Not  even  they,  who  professed  to  know  so  much  of  us,  knew 
how  incompetent  we  felt  ourselves  for  the  large  work  their  in- 
activity had  piled  up  for  us.  To  a  very  large  extent  the  Judaism 
of  that  day  represented  a  piece  of  Orientalism  strangely  out  .of 
place  in  an  Occidental  world.  The  beliefs  and  practices  of  the 
cramped  and  stifling  ghettos  of  intolerant  Europe  had  been  trans- 
planted into  our  broad  and  liberal  country.  The  world  had 
progressed  and  the  Jew  had  progressed  with  it  as  man  and  citi- 
zen, but  not  in  religious  life.  Slavish  adherence  to  dead  form 
clashed  with  the  spirit  of  modern  thought.  By  far  the  largest 
number  of  the  new  generation,  reared  under  new  conditions,  re- 
fused to  bear  the  shackles  of  musty  medievalism.  They  under- 
stood not  its  language,  and  were  repelled  by  its  bizarre  ritualism. 
They  were  confronted  by  modern  problems  for  whose  solution 
they  looked  to  religion,  only  to  find  that  it  regarded  these  outside 
its  sphere  of  activity.  To  ceremonial  Judaism  of  that  day,  as  it 
does  to  Orthodoxy  of  our  day,  religion  meant  Law ;  to  us  it  meant 
Life. 

According  to  Orthodox  belief  of  that  day,  the  minister  had 
no  part  in  the  solution  of  modern  problems.  His  duty  was  to 
see  that  old  forms  and  customs  were  kept  from  dying  rather 
than  that  new  principles  were  brought  into  life.  His  study 
lay  in  knowing  what  the  rabbi  had  said  in  countries  far  away, 
and  in  an  age  and  language  long  since  dead,  and  not  in  knowing 
what  the  scholars  and  reformers  spoke  in  modern  times,  and 
what  the  needs  were  in  modern  days.  Their  ideal  of  a  rabbi 
was  the  one  who,  after  reading  one  or  two  services  on  the  Sab- 
bath day,  sank  out  of  sight  all  week  long,  to  bury  himself  in 
the  musty  volumes  of  ancient  lore,  and  to  spend  his  days  in  un- 
riddling imaginary  Bible  riddles,  or  spinning  theological  cob- 
webs. "What  has  a  rabbi  to  do,"  they  asked,  "with  questions 
of  capital  and  labor,  with  social  and  political  reform,  with 
housing  the  poor  and  cleaning  the  slums?  What  concern  is 
it  to  him  as  to  what  is  taught  in  the  public  schools,  and  how? 
What  need  for  a  rabbi  to  trouble  himself  as  to  what  the  Chris- 


47 


tian  knows  and  thinks  of  Jew  and  Judaism,  or  as  to  what  the 
Jew  knows  and  thinks  of  Christianity  and  its  founders?  What 
need  of  his  troubling  himself  about  what  Darwin  and  Spencer 
and  Haeckel  think  of  the  origin  of  the  universe  and  the  crea- 
tion of  man,  when  he  has  his  Bible  and  Talmud  and  Jewish 
medieval  writers  to  teach  him  all  he  requires  to  know?" 

Far  different  was  our  conception  of  the  duties  of  a  rabbi. 
We  prized  knowledge  of  Hebrew  lore  as  much  as  did  our  op- 
ponents, and  we  had  given  to  an  acquisition  of  it  many  a  year 
of  devoted  study.  But  we  did  not  regard  entire  devotion  to  it 
compatible  with  the  requirements  of  a  modern  minister.  To 
our  mind  the  place  for  him  who  would  devote  himself  exclu- 
sively to  Hebrew  studies,  was  not  the  pulpit,  but  an  institution 
especially  devoted  to  the  teachings  of  such  studies.  The  pulpit 
needs  physicians  of  the  soul,  correctors  of  the  morals  of  so- 
ciety, and  not  linguists,  book-worms  or  archeologists.  It  must 
have  live  men,  for  it  has  live  work  to  do.  Home  and  school, 
factory  and  shop,  capital  and  labor,  civic  and  national  govern- 
ment, appeal  in  our  day  to  the  pulpit  for  aid  in  solving  some  of 
their  vexing  problems.  It  must  do  the  work  which  is  in  its 
province  to  do,  and  speak  the  language  that  all  can  under- 
stand. Instead  of  being  a  closet-student,  the  minister  must  be 
out  in  the  world,  must  mingle  with  the  people,  must  know  their 
virtues  and  vices,  their  weakness  and  strength,  must  know  the 
cares  that  beset  them,  the  temptations  that  lure  them,  the  doubts 
that  perplex  them.  He  must  thoroughly  diagnose  the  insani- 
ties of  society  before  he  can  administer  the  medicine  that  shall 
make  and  keep  it  sane.  He  must  be  a  patriot  in  the  hour  of  his 
country's  needs,  a  guardian  of  childhood,  a  protector  of  woman- 
hood, a  savior  of  manhood,  a  spiritualizing  influence  everywhere, 
in  school  and  in  church,  in  the  secluded  home  and  the  open  arena. 

With  such  conception  of  the  duties  of  the  modern  ministry, 
we  entered  upon  our  work,  and  with  it  we  faithfully  labored  on. 
And,  notwithstanding  howl  and  attack,  our  labors  prospered, 
our  congregations  grew.  Many  that  had  fallen  away  from  Israel 

48 


returned  to  our  flag.  Many  that  had  grown  cold  and  indifferent 
became  enthusiastic  in  their  support.  The  new  spirit  introduced 
into  congregational  life,  notably  among  the  young,  created  a 
larger  demand  for  graduates  than  the  Hebrew  Union  College 
could  supply,  and  today,  Dr.  Wise's  prophecy  of  twenty-five 
years  ago,  is  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  Scarcely  a  prominent  pulpit 
in  the  land  but  it  is  filled  by  a  graduate  of  the  Hebrew  Union 
College. 

What  of  the  future  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College?  There 
are  those  who  have  not  much  faith  in  its  future.  They  point 
to  the  fewness  of  its  students,  to  the  unpopularity  of  the  Jew- 
ish ministry  among  our  gifted  young  men,  to  the  absence  of 
sons  of  representative  families  from  its  student  body,  to  the  lack 
of  support  of  it  by  our  monied  people,  to  the  lack  of  interest  in 
it  on  the  part  of  the  public  in  general,  so  much  so  that,  to  have 
a  satisfactory  audience  at  all,  the  graduation  exercises  have  to 
be  tacked  on  to  the  Saturday  service. 

Would  that  Dr.  Wise  were  alive  today,  and  these  fears  were 
expressed  in  his  hearing!  Would  that  his  lips  could  speak 
once  more  words  such  as  he  used  to  speak  when  aroused 
by  righteous  indignation !  How  his  speech  of  fire  would  wither 
into  nothingness  such  fears  as  these!  How  his  eagle-eye  would 
light  up  with  visions  of  the  future,  and  his  tongue  of  prophecy 
speak  forth  future  happenings  that  would  dispel  every  mis- 
giving and  kindle  enthusiasm  in  the  souls  of  those  of  little  faith ! 

"Who  dare  speak  of  failure,  today,"  he  would  say,  "in  the 
face  of  a  record  such  as  the  Hebrew  Union  College  has  made 
during  the  past  twenty-five  years?  What  are  the  dishearten- 
ments  of  today  compared  with  those  of  twenty-five  years  ago? 
If  practically  out  of  nothing,  and  with  almost  all  against  it,  the 
college  could  accomplish  so  much  in  twenty-five  years,  what 
will  it  not  accomplish  in  the  next  twenty-five  years,  with  its 
graduates,  today,  in  more  than  a  hundred  pulpits,  with  more 
than  a  hundred  congregations  contributing  today  towards  its 
support,  with  more  than  $350,000  today  in  its  sinking  fund,  with 

49 


a  learned  faculty  presiding  over  its  studies,  with  splendid 
library,  and  with  beautiful  grounds  for  the  erection  of  a  magnifi- 
cent series  of  buildings? 

"The  day  is  coming,"  he  would  continue,  "when  society, 
weary  of  the  domestic  infidelities  and  social  corruptions  and 
political  knaveries,  into  which  present-day  irreligion  and  its 
consequent  materialism  and  money-craze  and  libertinism  have 
driven  it,  will  cry  a  loud  halt,  and  return  to  religion  for  its 
anchorage. 

"The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  religious  leaders  will  re- 
cognize in  such  present-day  delusions  as  Christian  Science,  a  soul- 
hunger  for  a  sustaining  and  comforting  religion,  and  will  sat- 
isfy that  hunger  with  wholesome  spiritual  food. 

"The  day  is  coming  when  ministers  will  cease  to  be  mere 
creed-repeating  parrots,  or  automata  wound  up  weekly  to  grind 
out  sermons  on  doctrines  and  dogmas  in  which  few  believe,  and 
which  still  less  care  to  hear. 

"The  day  is  coming  when  the  burning  moral  questions  of 
the  hour  will  find  in  the  minister  their  ablest  public  champion, 
when  from  the  pulpit  the  bitterest  wars  will  be  waged  against 
corruption  and  outrage,  when  ministers  will  be  recognized 
leaders  in  every  movement  that  makes  for  the  suppression  of 
evil  and  for  the  furtherance  of  righteousness,  when  young  men 
of  courage  and  daring,  young  men  endowed  with  the  spirit  that 
characterized  the  militant  prophets  of  old,  will  be  drawn  towards 
the  pulpit  and  find  there  unlimited  opportunities  for  the  exercise 
of  even  the  most  brilliant  gifts  and  powers. 

"The  day  is  coming  when  the  splendid  battles  fought  and 
won  from  the  pulpit,  when  the  vast  influences  for  good  emana- 
ting from  the  House  of  God,  will  procure  for  the  college  the 
liberal  support  of  the  wealthy  classes,  and  the  enthusiastic  de- 
votion of  the  public  in  general. 

' '  The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  faculty  of  the  Hebrew 
Union  College  will  recognize  that  reform  thus  far  has  not  reached 
below  the  surface  of  things,  has  concerned  itself  largely  with  the 

50 


externalities  of  religion,  with  form  and  ceremonial,  with  language 
diet  and  the  like.  It  has  scarcely  penetrated  as  yet  into  the 
realm  of  religion  itself.  Such  teachings  as  'love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself  are  still  more  honored  in  the  breach  than  in  the 
practice.  A  universal  brotherhood  of  man  is  still  an  irridescent 
dream.  In  the  conflict  between  the  spirit  and  the  flesh,  the  spirit 
is  still  the  weaker.  Wars  still  rage;  prejudice  and  hatred  still 
separate  man  and  man.  Might  is  still  stronger  than  right,  and 
gold  more  popular  than  God.  And  recognizing  this,  the  faculty 
will  make  of  the  college  not  merely  a  depository  of  ancient  lore, 
but  also  an  arsenal  in  which  to  train  and  epuip  its  students 
for  present-day  combat;  will,  in  arranging  its  curriculum  of 
studies,  take  cognizance  of  the  needs  of  the  hour,  of  the  work 
its  graduates  will  be  obliged  to  do  in  these  days,  if  they  are 
to  succeed,  of  the  knowledge  they  must  possess,  if  they  are  to 
face  and  fight  and  conquer  the  evils  of  their  day." 

Thus  would  Dr.  Wise,  of  sainted  memory,  speak  to  us  of 
the  future  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College  were  he  alive  today. 
Yet,  though  not  with  us  in  body,  his  presence  permeates  our 
gathering.  From  today's  celebration  we  shall  go  forth  richer 
for  his  presence,  the  more  hopeful  for  his  message.  In  our  silent 
musings  over  the  days  that  have  been,  we  hear  his  whisperings 
of  things  that  shall  be.  The  past  of  his  moulding  was  bright. 
May  we  show  our  truest  appreciation  of  our  lamented  master's 
services  by  making  the  future  brighter  still. 


51 


"The  Influence  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College  on  Judaism  in 

America  Rabbi  David  Philipson,  D.  D.  ('83) 

This  is  a  day  of  memories.  We  have  lived  the  past  thirty- 
three  years  over  again,  we  who  were  present  at  the  opening  of 
our  beloved  Alma  Mater,  we  who  were  participants  in  the  strug- 
gles and  trials  of  the  first  eight  years,  we  who  were  central  fig- 
ures in  the  triumphant  celebration  of  twenty-five  years  ago, 
when,  his  labors  crowned  with  victory,  our  revered  spiritual 
father  laid  his  hands  upon  our  heads  and  pressed  his  lips  upon 
our  brows,  and  overcome  with  emotion,  bade  us,  the  first  fruits 
of  his  many  years'  work  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  go  forth 
to  become,  as  he  hoped  and  prayed,  a  blessing  and  an  uplifting 
force  in  the  life  of  Israel  in  America.  He  never  wavered.  His 
faith  never  weakened.  From  the  very  first  he  prophesied  that 
the  Hebrew  Union  College,  through  its  work  and  the  work  of 
its  graduates,  would  exert  a  telling  influence  on  Judaism  in  this 
country.  Today  the  questions  are  pertinent,  has  this  faith  of 
Isaac  M.  Wise  been  justified?  Have  his  dreams  of  the  high 
possibilities  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College  been  realized?  Have 
his  prophecies  so  often  uttered  been  fulfilled?  Have  the  achieve- 
ments and  accomplishments  of  the  past  quarter  century,  as 
represented  in  the  activities  of  the  graduates  of  the  College,  re- 
dounded to  the  weal  or  the  woe  of  American  Judaism?  Fateful 
questions  these,  and  likely  to  be  answered  favorably  or  unfavor- 
ably according  to  the  viewpoint  of  him  who  makes  reply. 

But  whether  the  answer  be  favorable  or  unfavorable, 
whether  it  be  the  enthusiastic  yea  of  the  ardent  friend  of  the 
College,  or  the  decided  nay  of  its  opponent,  none  I  believe  will 
cavil  at  the  claim  that  the  College  has  exerted  a  most  decided 
influence  on  the  religious  development  of  the  Jews  in  this  land. 
What  some  of  the  features  of  this  influence  are  it  is  my  task  to 
place  before  you  as  briefly  as  I  can. 

I  can  not  concern  myself  with  the  individual  achievements 
of  the  graduates  of  the  College ;  the  new  temples  they  have  urged 

62 


congregations  to  erect,  here,  there  and  everywhere;  the  insti- 
tutions and  organizations  they  have  called  into  being;  the  books 
they  have  written ;  the  personal  influence  they  have  brought  to 
bear  upon  communal  religions,  moral  and  civic  activities  in  their 
various  fields  of  labor;  the  many  occasions  at  which  they  are 
Assisting  constantly  in  their  representative  capacity  as  Jewish 
leaders.  This  would  lead  me  too  far  afield ;  besides,  these  things 
are  so  generally  recognized  and  so  clearly  upon  the  surface  that 
he  who  runs  may  read.  Further,  the  personal  equation  enters 
so  largely  into  this  aspect  of  the  subject  as  far  as  the  present 
speaker  or  any  graduate  of  the  institution  is  concerned,  that 
mindful  of  the  wise  admonition  of  the  ancient  sage,  "let  another 
man  praise  thee,  and  not  thine  own  mouth,"  I  dismiss  it  with- 
out further  expatiation,  being  sure  that  all  the  achievements  of 
my  fellow  alumni  of  the  College  will  receive  the  proper  meed  of 
pntise  or  blame  somewhere  and  sometime  from  Him  who  weigheth 
Ihe  actions  of  men  and  considereth  all  their  doings. 

Let  me  then  consider  our  subject  rather  in  some  of  its 
general  aspects.  In  the  first  place,  the  College  through  its 
founder  and  the  great  majority  of  its  graduates  has  stood  and 
stands  for  the  liberal  movement  in  Judaism.  It  has  made  it- 
self felt  as  an  influence  for  the  promulgation  among  American 
Jews  of  that  interpretation  of  the  faith  which  teaches  the 
doctrine  of  constant  development  and  distinguishes  between  the 
permanent  and  Iransitory  elements  in  religion.  Although  the 
instruction  in  the  class  rooms  is  concerned  altogether  with  the 
achievements  of  the  Jewish  soul  as  preserved  in  our  great  spir- 
itual and  literary  monuments,  the  Bible,  the  Talmud,  the  Mid- 
rashim,  the  philosophers,  yet  does  the  spirit  prevading  the 
instruction  make  for  that  view  which  is  connoted  by  the  term, 
Reform  Judaism.  It  is  frequently  claimed  that  a  Jewish  insti- 
tution of  higher  learning  such  as  the  College  is,  should  be  non- 
committal as  far  as  the  vexed  questions  of  Jewish  opinion  are 
concerned.  It  is  held  by  the  champions  of  this  view  that  Jewish 
learning  is  neither  Reformed  nor  Orthodox,  neither  liberal  nor 

53 


conservative;  that  in  interpreting  passages  of  the  Bible  or  the 
Talmud  the  personal  views  of  the  professor  on  vexed  questions 
of  Jewish  theology  must  be  suppressed,  and  that  only  the  his- 
torical exegetical  and  literary  significance  of  the  passages  in 
question  should  be  expounded.  Such  an  attitude  may  be  possible 
in  a  strictly  linguistic  or  literary  academy;  it  was  possible,  too, 
in  a  Jewish  theological  institution  in  an  earlier  day  when  there 
was  but  one  rule  for  Jews,  the  norm  of  the  Shulehan  Aruk,  and 
when  there  were  no  conflicting  opinions  on  important  points  of 
belief  and  practice.  During  the  past  century,  however,  Jews 
have  divided  into  parties  that  differ  vitally  in  their  views  on  the 
whole  intent  and  meaning  of  Judaism.  There  are  many  shades 
of  opinion,  but  the  commonly  accepted  alignment  marks  us  as 
Reformers  or  Orthodox.  These  current  terms  are  not  the  best 
that  might  have  been  coined,  but  they  serve  our  purpose,  since 
it  is  generally  known  what  they  designate.  Now  Judaism  hav- 
ing taken  this  course,  and  there  being  these  varying  tendencies 
of  thought  in  its  theology,  it  is  simply  out  of  the  question  for 
an  institution  that  prepares  candidates  for  an  active  ministry 
not  to  represent  one  or  the  other  of  these  tendencies  of  thought. 
The  Hebrew  Union  College  is  premeated  with  the  liberal  tend- 
ency. That  here  and  there  some  of  its  graduates  preach  in  a 
manner  that  is  seemingly  at  variance  with  this  tendency  simply 
indicates  that  each  man  develops  his  individual  bent  after  he 
leaves  the  institution.  But  on  the  whole,  I  believe  it  can  not  be 
gainsaid  that  the  influence  of  the  College  through  its  graduates 
who  are  interpreting  the  doctrines  of  Judaism  from  over  a 
hundred  pulpits,  has  been  to  spread  among  American  Jews  that 
view  of  the  faith  which,  while  building  upon  the  essentials  of 
Judaism,  applies  the  touchstone  of  development  to  doctrines, 
forms  and  ceremonies,  and  claims  that  in  religion  as  little  as 
in  any  other  human  experience,  the  motto,  "touch  me  not," 
can  apply. 

In  the  second  place,  the  training  of  American  youths  for 
the  Jewish  ministry  and  the  occupancy  of  the  Jewish  pulpit  by 

54 


such  as  received  their  education  in  an  American  institution  em- 
phasized more  than  anything  had  ever  done  the  American 
phase  in  the  development  of  Judaism,  if  I  may  so  term  it.  Be- 
fore the  graduates  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College  became  the 
spiritual  leaders  of  our  congregations,  the  pulpits  were  manned 
for  the  most  part  by  men  of  foreign  birth.  I  know  I  am  tread- 
ing on  delicate  ground  here,  and  am  likely  to  be  misunder- 
stood. Needless  to  say  that  no  one  is  less  in  sympathy  with  the 
so-called  Know  Nothing  spirit  than  I.  There  is  none  who 
has  a  greater  respect  and  love  for  the  splendid  leaders 
who  occupied  the  Jewish  pulpits  in  the  pre-Hebrew  Union 
College  days,  Wise  and  Lilienthal,  Einhorn  and  Hirsch,  Leeser 
and  Morais,  Samuel  Adler  and  Huebsch,  Felsenthal  and  Lieb- 
man  Adler,  Gutheim  and  Moses,  Szold  and  Jastrow,  Gott- 
heil  and  Voorsanger,  and  the  many  others,  dead  and  living, 
who  might  be  mentioned,  men  who  though  of  foreign  birth  were 
surcharged  with  the  American  spirit  and  entered  fully  into  the 
life  and  activity  of  American  civilization ;  but  what  I  mean  is 
this,  that  when  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  the  first  American 
yeshibah,  sent  forth  its  first  graduates,  then  what  we  call  Amer- 
ican Judaism  received  an  official  seal  and  became  self-expres- 
sive. The  great  pioneers  had  all  been  working  towards  this  end 
consciously  or  unconsciously.  When  they  came  to  these  shores 
they  recognized  that  Judaism  in  this  land  would  carve  out  a 
career  all  its  own.  This  was  the  note  of  all  their  preaching 
and  their  public  activity.  When  Wise,  the  very  embodiment  of 
the  democratic  spirit,  in  Albany,  and  later  in  Cincinnati, 
preached  in  season  and  out  of  season  of  the  opportunities  of 
the  Jew  and  Judaism  in  this  land ;  when  Eirihorn,  in  Baltimore, 
fearlessly  delivered  his  ringing  messages  of  freedom  for  all  men, 
black  as  well  as  white,  in  a  pro-slavery  city  in  the  exciting 
period  immediately  preceding  the  Civil  War;  when  Lilienthal 
on  every  public  occasion  in  this  city  rang  the  changes  on  the 
glories  of  the  American  Republic;  when  Gutheim  in  the  southern 
metropolis  so  carried  himself  in  all  he  said  and  did  that  he  was 

55 


recognized  as  an  American  of  the  Americans;  when  all  our 
other  Jewish  leaders  of  aforetime  in  tfieir  various  spheres  of 
activity  gave  evidence  of  similar  traits,  they  were  preparing  the 
way  for  the  founding  of  an  institution  that  should  be  the  visible 
symbol  of  the  spirit  they  embodied,  and  should  stand  before  the 
American  people  as  that  Academy  of  higher  learning  which  was 
to  be  the  meeting  place  of  the  old  and  the  new,  permeating  the 
Jewish  tradition  with  the  free  American  spirt  and  readjusting  the 
Jewish  heritage  to  the  modern  American  conditions.  Not  then 
because  the  leaders  of  that  former  generation  were  less  loyally 
American  than  we  of  this  latter  day,  but  because  coming  from 
lands  where  restrictions  prevented  them  from  living  their  lives 
fully  as  men,  they  were  even  more  sensible  of  the  blessings  and 
opportunities  of  American  institutions,  and,  therefore,  felt  the 
necessity  of  an  American  training  school  for  rabbis  does  it  ap- 
pear that  the  College  may  indeed  be  characterized  in  the  manner 
I  have  done  and  the  claim  be  urged  that  this  has  been  indeed 
one  of  the  chief  marks  of  its  influence  as  emphasizing  the  Amer- 
icanism of  Jews  and  Jewish  congregations  in  this  land. 

This  makes  it  plain  why  the  intensely  American  founder 
of  the  'college,  recognizing  this  feature  of  the  institution's  work 
set  his  faee  like  steel  against  the  neo-nationalistic  movement 
that  sprang  up  in  a  certain  section  of  Jewry  toward  the  close  of 
his  life.  This  makes  it  clear  also  why  in  its  course,  official  and 
unofficial,  the  College  has  declared  against  political  Zionism. 
An  institution,  American  to  the  core,  as  is  the  College,  can  have 
no  sympathy  with  a  movement  whose  inspiration  lies  in  the 
fostering  of  political  hopes  which  are  the  counterpart  of  the 
narrow  nationalism  that  produced  anti-Semitism  and  other  back- 
ward movements  and  are  at  variance  with  the  universalism  bred 
of  the  union  of  prophetic  Judaism  with  the  American  spirit. 

There  are  many  other  directions  in  which  the  College  li;i* 
exerted  influence  on  Judaism  in  America.  I  should  like  to  dwell 
on  these,  but  my  time  is  limited  and  I  must  forego  the  tempta- 
tion. However,  there  is  one  point  that  I  must  touch  upon,  and 

56 


I  am  sure  that  I  will  be  pardoned  for  giving  this  preference 
over  the  others,  as  soon  as  it  shall  be  mentioned.  I  refer  to  the 
part  played  by  the  Hebrew  Union  College  in  the  formation  of 
the  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis.  True,  there  had 
been  occasional  conferences  of  rabbis  in  this  country  before  the 
organization  of  the  Central  Conference,  but  these  were  only 
single  gatherings  and  not  permanent  institutions.  When  Isaac 
M.  Wise  felt  that  there  were  enough  of  his  disciples  occupying 
the  pulpits  throughout  the  country  who  in  conjunction  with  his 
personal  friends  not  graduates  of  the  College  would  make  pos- 
sible the  realization  of  one  of  his  long  cherished  dreams,  he  took 
steps  towards  organizing  a  rabbinical  conference.  Great  as  has 
been  the  assistance  of  the  members  of  the  Conference  who  are 
not  graduates  of  the  institution,  and  faithful  as  has  been  and 
is  their  service,  yet  I  believe  it  may  be  said  without  fear  of 
contradiction  that  had  there  been  no  Hebrew  Union  College 
there  would  be  no  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis. 
Indirectly  then,  through  the  Conference,  the  College  has  been  a 
tremondous  unifying  force  in  the  religious  life  of  Jewry.  All 
that  the  conference  has  achieved,  its  Union  Prayer  Book  its 
Union  Hymnal,  its  Union  Hagadah,  and  most  of  all  its  bring- 
ing into  bonds  of  fellowship  over  two  hundred  rabbis,  leaders  of 
reform  and  conservative  congregations,  may  be  traced  to  the 
influence  of  the  College.  Surely  these  three  great  achievements 
of  Isaac  M.  Wise  hang  together,  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew 
Congregations,  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  the  Central  Con- 
ference of  American  Rabbis.  Without  the  Union,  no  Col- 
lege; without  the  College,  no  Conference.  Is  this  not  a  triple 
cord  which  shall  not  soon  be  broken?  Who  will  ever  measure 
the  mighty  influence  of  these  three  institutions  on  the  life  of 
Judaism  in  America?  The  stream  of  this  influence  has  permeated 
all  sections  of  the  country,  reviving  the  drooping  spirit  of  Juda- 
ism here  and  strengthening  weak  hands  there.  Blessed,  blessed 
indeed  is  the  memory  of  the  great  man  who  lives  forever  in  these 
his  works! 


67 


And  now  a  word  more  and  I  will  have  done.  The  influence 
of  the  College  has  made  itself  felt  also  in  pointing  out  the 
Jewish  ministry  as  a  field  of  activity  for  our  young  men.  Be- 
fore the  College  was  organized  I  believe  there  were  only  four 
American  youths  who  had  chosen  the  ministry  as  their  vocation. 
The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  preparation  were  too  great.  The 
College  changed  all  that,  and  its  Alumni,  numbering  at  present 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  offer  eloquent  testimony  that  the 
pulpit  is  recognized  as  offering  an  honorable  career  for  Jewish 
youth,  no  less  than  the  clinic  and  the  bar.  Surely  this  is  not 
a  small  service  that  the  College  has  accomplished.  And  here  may 
I  not  enter  >a  plea  for  the  wider  extension  of  this  influence? 
There  is  surely  no  more  honorable  service  than  that  of  the  rabbi. 
Why  then  is  it  that  where  there  are  hundreds  of  young  Jews 
studying  to  become  physicians,  lawyers  engineers  and  what  not, 
the  number  devoting  themselves  to  the  work  of  the  ministry 
is  so  small?  I  do  not  like  to  strike  a  minor  note  in  the  jubila- 
tion of  this  celebration.  I  do  so  only  because  it  is  exigent. 
The  fly  in  our  ointment  is  the  dearth  of  our  native  born  youth 
among  the  students  for  the  ministry.  When  the  class,  whose 
silver  anniversary  occurs  today,  entered  the  college,  it  numbered 
eighteen.  Today  those  entering  each  year  are  scarcely  as  many 
as  were  graduated  from  that  first  class.  If  the  influence  of  the 
Hebrew  Union  College  is  to  attain  the  highest  pinnacle  its  work 
as  attested  by  its  graduates  must  inspire  the  elect  of  our  youth 
with  the  desire  to  give  themselves  to  service  in  the  cause  of 
Judaism.  There  is  a  tremendous  field  for  work,  the  call  for 
capable,  earnest,  devoted  young  leaders  is  urgent.  The  future 
usefulness  and  influence  of  the  College  is  contingent  upon  an 
increasing  number  in  the  student  body.  If  in  celebration  of  this 
silver  anniversary,  our  Alumni  would  resolve  that  each  and  every 
one  of  us  should  put  forth  more  earnest  efforts  to  send  occasion- 
ally a  youth  of  good  parts  to  the  college  so  that  there  should  be 
eight  or  ten  candidates  entering  each  year  we  will  have  per- 
formed the  greatest  service  to  the  cause.  Needed  as  are  funds, 

68 


students  are  more  needed.  Through  them  the  influence  of  the 
College  will  spread  and  ever  spread.  If  we  will  supply  this 
student  material  to  the  College,  the  time  is  bound  to  come  when 
to  a  much  greater  degree  than  is  the  ease  even  at  present,  the 
influence  of  the  college  will  be  potent  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  of  this  land.  North  and  South,  East  and  West,  in 
every  city  and  town,  the  Hebrew  Union  College  will  make  it- 
self felt  through  the  words  and  acts  of  the  rabbis  who  have 
gone  forth  from  its  halls.  That  influence  will  be  on  the  whole 
for  the  promulgation  of  that  interpretation  of  Judaism  which 
while  building  upon  the  immovable  foundations  of  a  great  past, 
yet  avers  that  every  age  has  its  contribution  to  make  to  the 
ever  flowing  stream  of  religions  development.  The  beliefs  and 
practices  which  have  crytallized  into  traditions  were  at  one  time 
as  new  as  is  the  latest  utterance  of  this  latest  age.  The  twen- 
tieth century  is  weaving  its  figure  into  the  pattern  of  Judaism 
just  as  certainly  as  did  the  century  of  Moses  or  Isaiah,  the  cen- 
tury of  Ezra  or  Johanan  ben  Zakkai,  the  century  of  Maimonides 
or  Mendelssohn.  Our  great  men  of  the  nineteenth  century  were 
inspired  of  God  as  truly  as  the  prophets  of  old;  if  difference 
there  was,  it  was  a  difference  of  degree,  not  of  kind.  In  that 
galaxy  of  American  Jewish  leaders  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
Isaac  M.  Wise  stands  pre-eminent;  his  influence  on  Judaism  in 
America  was  greater  than  that  of  any  other  one  man;  but  greater 
still  than  his  individual  influence,  and  so  he  would  have  had  it, 
is  the  influence  of  the  institution  he  created,  the  institution 
whose  beginnings  were  very  small,  but  whose  future  is  very 
bright,  the  institution  which  has  reared  scores  of  men  who  are 
carrying  the  living  message  of  Judaism  to  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands,  expressing  the  eternal  truths  of  our  faith  in 
modern  form  and  manner.  The  future  of  Judaism  in  America 
is  big  with  possibilities ;  we  are  standing  only  at  the  beginnings. 
Unless  all  signs  fall,  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  unfolding 
of  Jewish  life  and  thought  in  the  future  that  looms  before  us 
will  be  the  Hebrew  Union  College  through  the  leaders  whom  it 

V 

69 


will  continue  to  send  forth.  Great  as  are  the  possibilities,  so 
great  are  the  responsibilities.  Of  these  responsibilities  to  our 
cause,  may  we  never  cease  to  be  conscious,  we,  the  children  of 
the  college;  for  all  the  past  we  are  grateful;  in  all  the  future 
may  we  be  steadfast.  So  may  our  God  help  us  and  keep  us  true 
that  the  influence  of  the  spiritual  mother  who  has  nourished  us 
may  go  from  strength  to  strength,  and  redound  to  the  blessing 
of  Judaism  in  this  dear  land  of  ours,  and  all  other  lands,  and 
through  this  to  the  weal  of  all  humanity  throughout  all  the 
world  in  all  the  time  that  shall  be,  striving  with  all  other  good 
influences  towards  the  golden  age  whereof  prophets  have 
dreamed  and  poets  have  sung,  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Man  and 
the  Fatherhood  of  God. 


Psalm  cl  Lewandowski 

Choir 

Benediction          -  -          -     Rabbi  Max  J.  Merritt,  ('03) 


00 


1883  19O8 

DINNER 

TENDERED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF  GOVERNORS  TO  THE 
ALUMNI  OF  THE 

HEBREW  UNION  COLLEGE 

IN    HONOR   OF  THE 

TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY 

OF     THE     FIRST     GRADUATION 
CINCINNATI    CLUB 

SUNDAY  EVENING,  JUNE  28,  19O8 

AT    HALF-PAST   SIX   O'CLOCK 


...  TOASTS ... 

TOAST-MASTER,       -       LEO  M.  FRANKLIN,  '92 

"The  Alumual  Spirit"  Jonah  B.  Wise,  '03 

"  Isaac  M.  Wise  "       -  Joseph  Stolz, '84 

"  Our  Alma  Mater  "  Joseph  Silverman,  '84 

"Memories  of  our  College  Days"  David  Marx,  '94 

"  The  American  Rabbi  "  Moees  J.  Gries,  '89 

"  Our  Country  and  Our  Faith  "  Charles  S.  Levi,  '89 


61 


MESSAGES 


Congratulatory  messages  were  reoeived  from: 


Simon  Wolf, 
Henry  M.  Goldfogle, 
Mrs.  Bertha  Rayner  Frank, 
Charles  Hess, 
Samuel  Hassenbusch,     - 
Samuel  Woolner, 
Adolf  Kraus, 
A.  G.  Solomons, 
Wm.  B.  Hackenburg, 
David  E.  Heineman, 
Maurice  Fluegel, 
Charles  Wm.  Dabney, 
Rabbi  Barnett  A.  Elzas, 
Rabbi  Rudolf  Grossmann,     - 
Rabbi  Louis  Bernstein, 
Rabbi  Harry  Weiss, 
Rabbi  Martin  Zielonka, 
Rabbi  Tobias  Schanfarber,    - 
Rabbi  Morris  M.  Feuerlicht, 
Rabbi  M.  G.  Solomon, 

And  many  others. 


Washington,  D.  C. 
New  York  City 
Baltimore,  Md. 
Mobile,  Ala. 
St.  Joseph,  Mo. 
Peoria,  111. 
Chicago,  111. 
West  End,  N.  J. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Detroit,  Mich. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
Cincinnati,  O. 
Charleston,  S.  C. 
New  York  City 
St.  Joseph,  Mo. 
Macon,  Ga. 
El  Paso,  Texas 
Chicago,  111. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


62 


PRESS    OF    MAY    8c    KREIDLER 
CINCINNATI,   O. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


o*.ft    jW*tfT» 

JAN  17  1969 


Form  L9-8eries  444 


